


The Future That Never Was

by Nike



Category: One Piece
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But nothing worse than the anime, Canon-Typical Violence, Flashbacks, For Want of a Nail, Gen, I have their permission, I'm adding tags as people show up, Kidnapping, Ship Teasing, Time Travel, based on an ffn story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-11-10 01:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 38,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11116632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nike/pseuds/Nike
Summary: The second Pirate King's crew had only gone back in time for an hour. To those left in the new timeline, however, it's amazing how much damage the Strawhats can cause in an hour. Now the infamous crew is about to form but it's already different from the future that never was and now never will be.Inspired by The Patient One'sChanging The Future (Redone).





	1. In Which There Is A Big Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: One Piece is owned by Eichiro Oda and possibly Toei. This is just a fanwork and the author is making no money off of it.
> 
> Notes: Wow, it's been awhile since I've written One Piece fanfiction. And the first time I've posted any of it to this site. Anyway, I don't own One Piece and never will but this story is mine.
> 
> This is inspired by The Patient One's time-travel fanfiction _Changing The Future (Redone)_ and I have their permission to post this. If you want a fanfiction where the Strawhats change their past, I suggest reading that. This story, in comparison, is about dealing with the mess(es) left behind from such a thing. Expect spoilers at least through the Tottoland Arc and probably further if I can swing it.
> 
> While romance is not the focus of this story at all, I'm not above ship teasing. Also, I'm queer and like representation, so there will be implied - sometimes heavily - het, queer, and queerplatonic relationships going on in the background, but nothing worse than what the anime itself gets up to. You know, things like Boa Hancock squealing like a school girl over Luffy or Zoro and Sanji declaring nearly being forced to kiss 'scary' but no actual kissing or romance.
> 
> I am also going to be using Japanese for certain things. I'm going to try and avoid blatant peppering, however (eg. no calling the the Strawhats Mugiwara, for example), and limit myself to things that don't translate well (like nakama, because there's not an English word that quite encaptures it the way the Strawhats use it), don't have a direct translation because that's what it is (ie. a haramaki isn't a sash any more than a burqa is a veil), involve honorifics (because while English does have an equivalent to -san, it doesn't really have one for -chan, -kun, or nonsense endings like -yoi and -ya), and nonsense words (the den den mushi/transponder snail's purupurupuru noise, for example). The real exception is technique names - and that's at least partially because they're actually in multiple languages (Japanese, Spanish, and French immediately come to mind) and so will be in the original language followed by the English translation in parenthesis as needed. I will also sometimes use random words to imply different dialects and language norms. Everything should be understandable from context but let me know if it's not.
> 
> Also, while I've tried to make things different in this first chapter, there are some scenes and dialog borrowed from the Viz manga translations.
> 
> Finally, these characters will be swearing like the sailors they are. Since this is a One Piece fanfiction, that really shouldn't be a surprise.
> 
> Many thanks to both The Patient One and JED1 for looking this chapter over.

**Chapter One - In Which There Is A Big Change**

_She dreamt of the sea and sky being rent asunder by a single powerful swing of a sword wrapped in white. For one breathtaking instant, everything seemed to freeze, poised like a path leading to glory. Then she could feel the salt-soaked spray rush past her in a burst of air as the sea slammed back into place with a roar and the wind rushed to fill the void left behind._

_In her dreams, she was the one holding the white sword. In her memories, the sword had been held by someone else._

Kuina woke up and briefly wished she hadn't. Everything hurt. Okay, not everything. Her hair didn't hurt. Everything else, however... It wasn't even a good ache, the sort that arose from making oneself _better_. Of moving, of becoming faster, stronger, more skillful. No, this was the ache of abuse.

She mentally cursed as she took stock of her situation yet again, not having anything better to do. Her back ached from being forcefully pressed against a pole buried deep into the ground, deep enough that her best friend and companion in this rather off-putting situation hadn't managed to pull his out of the ground. Her arms, wrapped around the crossbar of wood parallel to the ground and bound at the elbows, also ached from the awkward position although being able to move her hands was a bit of a relief, even if the binding didn't give her much leeway. It at least kept the blood flow up, even if it did result in pins and needles every time she so much as twitched a finger. The only thing keeping it from being an outright crucifixion was that her feet touched the ground, although that meant everything from the hips down hurt from keeping her upright for so damn long. And letting them relax wasn't much of an option as that forced her chest to support her weight and that was a good way to slowly suffocate herself from the very weight of her body.

Zoro was in a position that was slightly better since the pole was actually a bit short compared to him. It meant he could actually semi-relax his legs without suffocating himself. Just proof these poles had been put in place with a man in mind, damn it all.

Despite everything, the Marine underlings weren't so bad. Absolutely terrified of their boss and his son and she and Zoro would have to beat them for tying them up, of course, but that didn't stop them from sneaking into the yard after father and son were safely asleep and giving her and Zoro water and offering to untie them long enough to use the bathroom. Kuina took full advantage of that time to stretch and then _sit_ , even if it was just for a minute or so. Zoro, she suspected, only went along with it because he didn't want to go through the humiliation of needing to go while still tied to the damn post. Holding it all day long was training enough.

Still, standing in the sun all day long with no food and barely enough water wasn't doing either of them any favors. They weren't going to last the whole month at this rate.

"Eh? There are people over there."

Kuina twitched and looked up through her bangs, not wanting to give any gawkers the satisfaction of her attention but wanting something new to focus on at the same time. She couldn't place the voice - it sounded like a teenager speaking Standard with a heavy East Blue accent thrown in for good measure. 

A boy wearing a straw hat decorated with a red ribbon was resting his arms on top of the wall and his chin on his arms, staring curiously. A grunt followed by a head of honest-to-God pink hair followed. The pink-haired kid apparently had some sense because he panicked at bit at the sight of her and Zoro. 

"Th-That’s them! Those are the most dreaded bounty hunters in the East Blue!" the pink-haired kid exclaimed when his companion expressed a disturbing lack of knowledge about who's who. "'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro and 'The Heathen' Isshin Kuina. Together they're known as 'The Demons of the East Blue'!"

She missed most of the hissed conversation after that but Kuina was aware of Zoro looking up to glare at the teens that had climbed to look over the wall from under his bandana, not liking gawkers any more than she did, and she felt her lips twitch into a smirk as he shouted at them. 

"Oi! Are you going to do something or just sit there gawking?"

"I hate gawkers," Kuina added. "Go stare at something else."

Then she, Zoro, and the teens started when the little girl they'd saved earlier suddenly popped up on top of the wall and made a very loud shushing noise before climbing down into the yard. She marched straight towards Kuina with a big grin while holding two rice balls.

"Onii-san! Onee-chan!" she exclaimed, using the local East Blue dialect - instead of the Standard one would expect this close to a freaking military base - to refer to them as Big Brother and Big Sister. "I made you rice balls! All by myself! Well, Mommy helped a bit. She cooked the rice! It's my first time making rice balls!"

Ah, that explained why the balls looked a little misshapen.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?!" Zoro roared, struggling a bit against his bonds. "Do you want to get into trouble? Get the hell out of here!"

"I... I thought you would be hungry," the girl whimpered and Kuina cursed the instinct that arose in her.

"Oi. Just let her feed you, idiot. The sooner the rice balls are gone, the sooner she leaves, right?" she suggested.

"Tch. I don't want any. Now scram, kid."

 _Stubborn ass_ , Kuina thought disparagingly before feeling her blood freeze when the sounds of the gate opening reached her ears, along with a very unwelcome voice.

"Are you picking on little girls now, Roronoa Zoro? How shameful. I should tell my father on you," the prissy prig that was the reason they were even in this situation called as he walked over, flanked by two men in white uniforms. Grunts, as far as Kuina could tell. Certainly no one with the power to tell this jerk off. Damn.

"Hmph. If it isn't the idiot living off of Daddy's wealth."

And there went Zoro mouthing off. If Kuina could hit him, she would. As it was, she had no doubt blondie would, just as he had every single day thus far.

"Did you just call me an idiot? Someone in your position should watch their tongue if they don't want to lose it," Daddy's boy sneered before turning to the girl and snatching a rice ball while saying, "Oh, did you bring these for me? How thoughtful."

"Hey! Give it back!" the girl shouted because of course she did. Kuina sighed and watched in resignation as the prick took a bite only to smirk when he made a face.

"Blech! Rice balls are supposed to be salty, not sweet!"

"But I like sweet things," the girl explained, "So I thought sugar would be better."

"They're completely inedible!"

Then the jerk-face smacked the other rice ball out of the girl's hands and proceeded to stomp on both of them.

"Please stop! You're ruining them! And I worked so hard on them!"

"Just leave them. The ants can enjoy them," the prick replied with a laugh, shrugging off the little girl's distress, "So stop crying. You're not even supposed to be here or can't you read the sign? You can't, can you, you little baby. It says, 'Anyone aiding these prisoners shall be found guilty of the crimes they committed. -Captain Morgan.' I'm sure you've heard about how scary my father can be! If you were an adult, you'd be put to death!"

Kuina could hear Zoro gritting his teeth even as she glowered at the whiny wimp as he gestured absently at one of the grunts.

"You there. Throw the brat over the fence."

"What? But--"

"I'm giving you an order! Do it or I'll tell Daddy on you!"

"Y-yes, sir. Right away!"

"Wait!" Kuina demanded because that could cause major damage to the kid, even kill her if she landed wrong. Necks were such fragile things.

"Oh? Have something to say, Babycakes? Did you maybe change your mind about that date?" Daddy's boy asked with a leer.

"Go fuck your dead dog!" Kuina snarled. "Like I'd want anything to do with a guy who'd hurt a little girl!"

"Oh? But I'm not the one hurting her. He is," the baby in men's clothing stated before ordering the poor grunt, "Do it."

The child shrieked as she was thrown over the wall, although the distant sounds that followed made it clear she survived. That was something good at least.

"Maybe a few more days in the sun will change your mind, Babycakes." 

"Oi, if she goes on one date with you, you'll let us both go, right?"

"Of course! I wouldn't dream of breaking my word. She goes on one date with me and then I'll let you both go."

"Date the bitch," Zoro told Kuina.

"Go to hell!" she snapped back.

"One date is not worth _this_ ," Zoro pointed out.

"No, but..." Kuina stuck out her tongue and made a face.

"Oi," Daddy's boy complained.

"You'll keep your hands to yourself and be a gentleman?" Zoro demanded of their captor.

"I won't touch her if she doesn't want me to. Of course, since she'll be begging me to by the end of the night..." He left off with a lecherous giggle. Kuina flipped him off but then sighed.

"If it means no one else gets hurt..."

"Oh, I promise. If you do what I say, I'll let you both go."

"Fine!" Kuina barked.

"Great! Boys, take her to get cleaned up for our date tonight. I need to go make arrangements."

Then the bastard left, his laughter echoing through the yard. Kuina just hoped she'd made the right decision as the grunts untied her and led her away. A gut feeling told her she hadn't. She shot a worried look backward at Zoro until she was dragged so he was out of sight.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Luffy was smart enough to know that he wasn't. He'd made peace with that fact long ago and decided not to worry about it. So what if he didn't know about certain things? He'd just find someone who did. Besides, he had things he was good at like fighting, surviving, and reading people. The fact all three were related had not escaped his notice but, again, why worry about it?

The language thing was going to be a bit of a problem but, eh, he'd manage. Coby and the pirates Luffy had rescued him from had understood well enough, even if they had looked at him oddly for keeping his language to what little Standard he knew. Really, it was Gramp's fault for going on and on about how all strong Marines speak Standard. Luffy had refused to learn it on principle for years until Ace and Sabo had explained everyone speaks Standard in the Grand Line. It... probably hadn't helped that he and his brothers had formed their own ship-speak combining the local East Blue dialect with Standard, random Noble words that Sabo had tended to revert to when he didn't know the word in any other language, and the ship-speak Luffy had picked up from Shanks and his crew during that year they'd used Foosha Village as a base. It wasn't their fault no one else understood them when they got going.

Anyway, Coby had been going on and on but Luffy had tuned him out and climbed the wall because he only understood about one word in three and those he could understand made it clear it was repetitive and unimportant. If it was important, Coby would find a way to explain it in a way Luffy did understand. What was happening in the yard was way more interesting.

"Eh? There are people over there," Luffy stated more for Coby's benefit than anything.

There were two people tied to poles in the ground. One was a scary-looking guy a few years older than Luffy himself, dressed in white and green and black with a haramaki around his waist and a bandana covering his head, shading his eyes. He looked as relaxed as someone could be while tied to a pole. His companion didn't look nearly as relaxed but that might have to do with the fact that she was shorter and thus couldn't just slide her feet forward like the guy had. She was dressed much like the man, albeit in white and dark blue that matched her hair (Luffy still didn't get why people called that shade navy blue when the actual Navy used a brighter blue). She'd left off the haramaki in favor of a brown belt that was either wrapped around her waist twice or was actually two belts. She also didn't have a bandana to protect her from the sun so she was looking a bit sunburned.

"That's them," Coby was saying now that he'd climbed up beside Luffy. "Those are the most dreaded bounty hunters in the East Blue! 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro and 'The Heathen' Isshin Kuina. Together they're known as 'The Demons of the East Blue'!"

"Oh? That's them? I could just untie them and set them free," Luffy thought out loud, a habit he'd gotten into with Ace after a few ill-planned adventures as a kid. Ace had always said Luffy's plans were kind of stupid but had insisted Luffy say them out loud so he could stop Luffy from going through with the worst of the bunch or, failing that, at least work around them. Luffy had to admit that the plans worked better when Ace was involved in them although they probably would've been better still if Sabo had been alive.

"Are you insane?! If you untie them, they'll kill us!" Coby insisted which was kind of stupid. Why would they attack the people untying them? It wasn't like they were rabid dogs or something.

"Oi!" the man suddenly called out, looking up at them from under his bandana. "Are you going to do something or just sit there gawking?"

"I hate gawkers," the woman muttered without looking up. "Go stare at something else."

Then a little girl and a mean weirdo showed up and things started to get really interesting. Luffy had no clue what the big deal with the date was. Last he knew, dates were either things like what day it was and thus nothing of consequence unless it was someone's birthday or a type of fruit. 

Maybe the weirdo was talking about a Devil Fruit? That would explain the face the woman made in response to it. Luffy knew from experience that Devil Fruit tasted nasty. And if she had one already, then it would be dangerous to eat another according to what Shanks had told him. Although the guy tied up with her seemed to think she'd survive so maybe she didn't have a Devil Fruit yet. Of course, it was odd that the weirdo wanted to share a Devil Fruit with her. Could that even be done? Luffy hadn't thought so but maybe it could. Although, why anyone would want to share one was beyond him. And, yeah, he could understand the woman not wanting to share a Devil Fruit with the weirdo.

Then Luffy got distracted by the flying girl and made sure to catch her before she got hurt. By the time he looked back over the wall, the Marine guys were dragging the lady away, leaving just the man tied to the post, who was watching them go with an expression Luffy couldn't quite read, which meant it was complicated. He was pretty certain there was worry and relief mixed together with something else, though.

Coby was busy making sure the girl wasn't hurt, so Luffy decided to approach the man.

"Are you Zoro or Kuina?" Luffy asked.

The man startled and turned his head before suddenly freezing once he a good look at Luffy. Luffy just stared back, not sure what to make of this man.

"It's you," the man stated.

"Eh?"

"You're... you."

"Of course I'm me. Who are you?"

"Heh. Roronoa Zoro. The woman they just took inside is my partner, Isshin Kuina. And you... you look like someone I met once, a long time ago."

"Really? Were they cool?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Zoro agreed. "He planned on being the Pirate King."

"No way! I'm going to be the Pirate King!" Luffy shot back.

"Oh?" Zoro replied with a smile like a shark. "You'll need the best on your crew if you plan on pulling that off. That woman they took in? One day, she's going to be the best swordsman in the world. And one day I'm going to defeat her."

"So you'll both be the best?" Luffy wondered out loud.

"Ha! Sure, I guess. Having a title isn't any fun if there's no one to properly challenge you."

"Huh. I see."

"So, what do you say to having my partner and me join your crew?"

"No."

"What?"

Oh, that left Zoro looking surprised, so Luffy explained, "I don't know if I want either of you in my crew yet."

Zoro huffed but smiled.

"Figures it wouldn't be that easy. You need us to prove ourselves first, right? Well, Captain Morgan's idiot son promised we'd be let go after Kuina went on a date with him, so we'll be free to pursue our dreams! We'll prove ourselves to you then."

"You mean after she eats the fruit?"

"What fruit?"

"The one you just said she's sharing with the weirdo," Luffy explained because wow, this guy was dumb.

"That's not what a date is, you dumbass!"

"Huh? But I'm pretty certain you aren't talking about a day of the week," Luffy replied with a tilt of his head. Zoro banged the back of his head against the pole he was tied to.

"It's when two people go out to find out if they're romantically compatible," Zoro explained.

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed, pounding his fist on top of his open palm as he beamed before suddenly wilting. "That's boring."

Zoro laughed and said, "Agreed but that's what the idiot wants. Not like Kuina wants anything to do with him, so it'll be a short date and then we're out of here."

"Oh. Right. I'll see you later, then."

"Wait a minute."

"Huh?"

"Pick that up for me," Zoro stated, gesturing with his chin at the smashed rice balls.

"Eh? You're not going to eat it, are you? I know you're hungry but this is more of a dirt ball than a rice ball," Luffy pointed out. He'd eaten some weird things over the years but even he knew to draw the line at eating dirt.

"Just shut up and shove it in. And don't miss a single grain of rice," Zoro demanded, opening his mouth wide. Luffy shrugged and did what he was asked. Zoro obviously did not enjoy it based on his expression and coughing.

"I told you it was mostly dirt."

"Tell her... tell the little girl I ate it all. And it was delicious."

Luffy blinked and then laughed before going to do just that. The little girl, whose name was apparently Rika, was thrilled when Luffy passed on the message.

"Really?! I wish Onee-chan had gotten to try them too, but I'm really glad Onii-san liked them!"

"I guess he might not be a bad guy after all," Coby conceded.

"Onii-san and Onee-chan aren't bad at all, even if everyone's scared of them! Captain Morgan and his son are the bad ones! They hurt people and kill them if they say anything. And Captain Morgan's son had these bad dogs that went around and scared people! They attacked me but Onii-san stopped them! 

"Captain Morgan's son didn't like that but when Onee-chan tried to explain the dogs were attacking, Captain Morgan's son was all, 'Hey, Babycakes, dump the loser and date me,' and a lot of other things Mommy says I'm not supposed to repeat and I'm supposed to run away if someone says them to me. But Onee-chan didn't run! She said, 'You're not good enough for my sword,' and then she punched him! Pow!

"That's when Captain Morgan's son started threatening me and Mommy, saying we should be exe... execusised! So Onii-san and Onee-chan made a deal to be tied up for a whole month! Except I heard Captain Morgan's son say he'd let them go sooner if Onee-chan agreed to go out with him."

"Well, she just did, so they'll be free soon," Luffy informed Rika.

"Really?! I'm so glad!"

"That _is_ good," Coby agreed right before a commotion caught their attention.

"You aren't bowing low enough, peasants! You don't want to make me angry or you'll be executed like Roronoa Zoro will be," Helmeppo announced as he walked down a street of people shivering and groveling, accompanied by his entourage. The lone female in the group still standing, Kuina, took offense to this news.

"What?! You said if I went on this date with you that you'd let us go!"

"Don't be stupid. Why would I let my romantic rival live now that you've agreed to date me? Although I might be able to get him a stay of execution... as long as you continue to be mine."

"You rat bastard! I'll-" Kuina cursed, barely held back by the armed Navy grunts on either side of her.

"Watch what you say to me, Babycakes, or a certain green-haired prisoner is going to start losing fingers," Helmeppo interrupted.

Kuina grit her teeth but not for long, because that's when Luffy punched Helmeppo.

"She doesn't belong to you. She doesn't want to belong to you. And you're a liar who doesn't keep his word," Luffy growled. He hated people like this. People like this were why Sabo had run away and died. He debated hitting the weirdo a second time but decided he had more important things to do. So Luffy straightened his hat, ignored the blubbering about hitting and Daddy-something and walked up to Kuina.

"Oi. I've decided to add you and Zoro to my crew."

"Luffy! You can't just make decisions like that!" Coby yelled from where he was hiding like a coward, the coward.

"Eh? Why not?" Luffy asked even as Coby hid again as the Marines looked in his direction. They seemed to be unsure what to do until the fleeing Helmeppo screamed at them.

"Hurry up, you idiots!"

The Marines followed, pulling Kuina with them. This didn't stop her from throwing a smile Luffy's way or calling out, "Sure! See you soon, Captain!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"The date's not gonna happen," Luffy informed Zoro.

"Tch! What did Fight Me do now?" the bound man wondered.

"You want me to fight you when you're still tied up?" Luffy tilted his head.

"No, that's not... I call Kuina 'Fight Me'. It's her nickname."

_"Fight me, you pussy-willow whipped pansy!"_

Both Zoro and Luffy turned to look in the direction of the shout even as Zoro deadpanned, "And that would be why."

Luffy laughed.

"You guys are funny!"

"Yeah, yeah. So, you're untying me?"

"Yep! I've decided you and Kuina are my crew now."

"Is that so? Huh. All right. So, what's taking so long?"

"I'm really bad with knots," Luffy cheerfully explained. Zoro gave him a look.

"Just get my swords and I'll cut them off."

"Okay! Where are they?"

"How should I know?" Zoro demanded before huffing and thinking. "Might be in Daddy Boy's room. Kuina's too."

"Okay! Be right back!" Luffy promised before running off.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Daddy! I want you to kill a man for me!"

"Oh? Why should I fight your battles? You're big enough to wipe your own bottom," Ax-hand Morgan replied as he watched his men finish the preparations and start to pull his statue into place.

"What? But even you have never laid a hand on my lovely yet masculine face before!"

"Do you know why?"

"Because I'm your beloved s--Augh!"

"Because you're an idiot not worth hitting! I don't mind if you use my status but I only lay hands on people who defy me. Don't fool yourself. You are nothing. _I_ am the _great one_.

"For years I labored to achieve my rank and I did it with my own strength and at great personal cost. Rank means everything! And since I have the highest rank here, that means everything I do is right. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Helmeppo agreed, weeping in pain and fear as he pressed a hand to the cheek his father had just hit.

"Good. Now, why is one of my prisoners not tied to their post?" Captain Morgan asked. Helmeppo practically went blue in the face as he hesitantly started to explain.

"Uh, well, she said she'd go on a date with me-"

"What?!" Captain Morgan roared, smacking Helmeppo with even more force than before. "You would defy me?!"

"No! I'm sorry! She's locked up right now!"

"Hmph! I should have you executed with the prisoners tomorrow! But since you're my idiot son, I'll give you one chance. Go tie her back up to the post again and keep watch all night. Anyone gets in, man, woman, or child, you _kill them_ or I _kill you_. Is that clear?"

"Crystal!" Helmeppo agreed, sobbing.

"Good. Now get out of my sight," Morgan ordered before turning to the monument of his power, the symbol of his greatness - just in time to see it bump against the top of the stairwell.

"You! Do you know how long I've waited for this moment only for you to scratch it! Attacking this statue is the same as attacking me!"

He didn't get further than that before a blur suddenly grabbed the ropes, turned into a boy, and smashed his statue against the edge of the roof where half of it broke off and fell to the yard below.

"Sorry," the boy said from where he was safe on the roof even as everyone stared in shocked horror at him. Captain Morgan recovered first.

"SEIZE HIM! I'LL HAVE HIS HEART FOR THIS!"

"Daddy! That's the ruffian who hit me!" Helmeppo called from where he was halfway inside the stairwell. Then he screamed as the boy grabbed him and ran down the stairs. Before Captain Morgan could even begin to issue another order involving the miscreant, one of his men pointed down at the yards and said, "Captain, someone's in the parade ground with the remaining prisoner!"

"What?! What's with all these traitors defying me?!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What kind of idiot leaves a girl locked in a room with her sword?" Kuina muttered before shrugging. Best not to question her good luck, she thought as she cut the rope binding her wrists behind her free using Wado Ichimonji now that she'd gotten a sliver of the blade out of the sheath. The idiot had also fled when she'd demanded he fight her earlier, apparently afraid of her even with both hands tied behind her back, the wimp.

She couldn't wait to get out of the painfully pink bedroom he'd left her in. Kuina made a face at the decor as she resheathed Wado Ichimonji and tied it to the belt at her waist. Then she made it clear she was actually wearing two belts by using the second one to secure Zoro's three burner swords at an angle along her back where they wouldn't get in her way.

All right, now to free Zoro, find their new captain, and get the hell of there. Once she was in the hallway, Kuina could hear a commotion heading her way. She grimaced. Best to avoid that. Which is how she missed the sight of Luffy dragging Helmeppo around. Instead, she ran into a large number of Navy grunts who'd come to investigate the noise.

For a long second, Kuina and the grunts stared at each other. Then the lead of the group pointed a finger at her.

"You are under arrest for attempting to escape!"

"Oh?" Kuina replied before smiling her scariest smile. "Good. I've been itching for a fight."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What?! Luffy went inside the fortress?! Why is he so reckless?" Coby stated as he worked on the knots to Zoro's ropes. In the interest of being freed as soon as possible, Zoro decided not to mention that he might have had a part in that decision. Instead, he listened with half an ear as the kid grumbled about corrupt Marines and needing to do something about it.

The gunshot took them both by surprise.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oi! Where's Kuina and the swords?" Luffy demanded of his hostage.

"Stop and I'll tell you!"

"Okay." Luffy came to a halt despite the number of men that were now taking advantage of this to catch up. "Now where is it?"

"They're all in my room. We passed it a long time back," Helmeppo replied.

"Eh? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did tell you! Ow! Why'd you hit me again?"

"Because I felt like it."

"Drop the captain's son or we'll shoot!" the leader of the men who'd finally caught up demanded.

"I don't want to," Luffy replied before proceeding to use Helmeppo as a shield and bowling over the men who'd now caught up to him on his way back to the door Helmeppo had indicated. He then blinked at the inside of the room.

"Eh? They're not here."

"What? How can they not be here? Oh, no. I'm dead!" Helmeppo screeched right before finally fainting.

Luffy ignored that in favor of what was happening outside the window.

"What's going on down there?" he wondered before inhaling sharply as he realized what he was seeing. His crew was in danger.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, I feel so much better!" Kuina cheered from her position on top of a pile of unconscious bodies. "So much more relaxed. Whelp, best find everyone else. And the exit. An exit would be good."

Reaching down, she slapped a man awake and demanded, "Oi, which way is out?"

Her victim weakly pointed before collapsing back into unconsciousness.

"Thanks!"

Kuina cheerfully made her way to the egress only to pause just inside the door when a wave of men ran past her, all of them carrying guns, and Captain Morgan himself following. For a moment she was grateful they hadn't noticed her. Then she realized what direction they were heading.

"Crap. You had better not die before I can rescue your ass," Kuina muttered as she followed the running Marine grunts. The majority were already aiming at the posts by the time she caught sight of the main body of troops and she knew she wasn't anywhere close enough to stop them when she saw them pull the triggers. All she could do was let out a horrified whisper.

"No!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm going to die!" Coby wailed, understandably upset at having been shot in the shoulder.

"Oh, good. You're still alive," Zoro stated with a grin before frowning and ordering, "Now get out of here before they get down here."

"But I have to free you, first! If I don't, they're going to execute you!"

"What?!"

"Helmeppo said in front of me, Luffy, and Kuina that he didn't plan on keeping up his end of the bargain! He was going to have you tortured and executed unless Kuina did what he said! So Luffy punched him and now we're here."

"Stay where you are! Captain Morgan has ordered your immediate execution!"

Coby started crying as he took in all the Marines aiming guns at him and Zoro. Zoro just glared.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot the traitors!" Captain Morgan ordered from the back of the troops. The guns all went off right as a blur landed in front of Zoro and Coby that quickly revealed itself to be a teenager in a straw hat. A teenager in a straw hat who proceeded to be shot. So it was with a sense of amazement that everyone witnessed Luffy's skin stretch and then retract, sending the bullets flying back towards the men who'd shot them.

"No good! Bullets don't work on me!" Luffy bragged.

"Who the hell are you?" Captain Morgan bellowed.

"I'm the man who's going to become the King of the Pirates," Luffy informed everyone with what would soon become a very familiar grin.

"You! You've dared to defy me and commit treasonous acts against my person! If bullets won't work, then an ax will!" Morgan shouted as he rushed forward, swinging his rather dangerous prosthetic. Luffy hit the flat of the blade with a fist that stretched, making Morgan slide back a few steps. Luffy moved to pursue and realized his mistake when Morgan shouted, "Now! Shoot the others!"

Luffy roared in anger as he socked Morgan in the jaw and then blinked when he realized he hadn't heard any of the guns go off. He looked at the Navy grunts and saw them staring at their empty hands and exclaiming in surprise.

"You boys forget about me?" Kuina's voice rang across the parade ground right before a bunch of guns clattered to the ground in front of her. Then she smiled a dangerous smile and offered, "I'll let you have them back if you can get past me."

"Oi, quit showing off and give me my swords, woman!" Zoro shouted from where he was still tied to the post.

"Little boys should know when to keep their mouths shut," Kuina replied cheekily.

"What are you bastards waiting for? You have swords! Use them! Those who defy me must die!" Morgan shouted. His men drew their swords and roared in agreement. Coby let out a scream even as Kuina threw the extra swords she'd been holding. There was a clang of steel against steel. Coby's jaw dropped.

"So cool!" Luffy cheered, grin widening.

"The first person to move dies," Zoro informed the Navy grunts he was holding off with three swords, his murderous aura giving them pause.

"So scary," one of the Marines whimpered. The rest were definitely thinking along the same lines.

"All right, Captain. Looks like you've got yourself a pair of swordsmen," Zoro informed Luffy.

"You both plan on being the best, right?" Luffy stated more than asked.

"That's right," Kuina agreed even as Zoro grinned around the sword in his mouth.

"Good. It's only right that the boss of the World's Greatest Swordsmen is the Pirate King!"

"Why are you hesitating? Hack those brigands into mincemeat!" Captain Morgan ordered.

"Zoro, duck," Luffy ordered. Zoro quickly obeyed even as Luffy called out, "Gomu Gomu no Whip!"

The Navy grunts were sent flying and Coby was looking rather starry-eyed.

"Wow."

"The hell? Are you made out of rubber or something?" Zoro muttered.

"Yep!"

"Huh."

"A Devil Fruit, eh?" Kuina stated over by where she was systematically destroying the guns she'd stolen earlier.

"It's hopeless!" a Marine cried out.

"Captain, there's no way we can stand up to a rubber man and the Demons of the East Blue all at the same time!" another added.

"All of you cowards who were whining just now will kill yourselves! I won't tolerate gutless shirkers in my outfit! On my order!" Captain Morgan commanded.

"Whoa, wait!" Kuina shouted, looking alarmed as the men in question turned their weapons on their own selves. 

"The hell is wrong with these Marines?" Zoro added.

Captain Morgan never gave the order, however, because Luffy punched him first.

"I'm your enemy and I won't die so easily," Luffy informed his opponent.

"Go, Luffy! Destroy him!" Coby cheered.

"You? You're a nobody with no rank or standing. I won't be defeated by the likes of you! I'm Captain Ax-hand Morgan!"

"Nice to meet you! I'm Luffy!"

Then the battle was on. Morgan's ax was ridiculously sharp but it didn't matter when he couldn't land a blow. Luffy just jumped, ducked, or dodged each swing and kept hitting Morgan. And the power of said hits showed as they made Morgan stumble and eventually fall. Even as Morgan hit the ground, Luffy kept pummeling the man.

"Stop! I said stop, damn it!"

Everyone turned to look long enough to see Helmeppo had taken Coby hostage with a pistol.

"You move and he's dead!"

"I'm sorry, Luffy! Just let him kill me! These guys need to go down!"

"You hear that, stupid son! Coby's not afraid to die for his dream!" Luffy called as he wound up for a punch.

"Luffy, behind you!" Coby screamed, worried not for himself but for his friend. He needn't have worried because as Luffy's fist stretched to smack Helmeppo in the face and save Coby, two swordsmen attacked Morgan simultaneously.

"Oi, stay out of my fights," Zoro demanded as he side-eyed Kuina even as Morgan fell behind them.

"I should say the same to you," Kuina retorted as she turned her attention on the grunts. "Fight me!"

The grunts dropped their swords instead, much to her annoyance.

"Captain Morgan's been defeated! HOORAY!"

"Weird-ass Marines," Zoro grumbled as he put away his swords.

"Yeah," Kuina agreed. Then they both passed out from starvation and dehydration.

~*~*~*~*~*~

_For Kuina, everything started when she went to put away Wado Ichimonji after her first spar against Zoro with live blades and tripped on the stairs only to realize as she fell that there was no way she could get her balance back and her fall was going to hurt. Then a hand snagged the back of her shirt and stopped her fall. For a long moment, she and her rescuer stayed like that, she because she was dangling from her shirt and wriggling out of the grip would mean falling down the stairs she had just narrowly avoided falling down to begin with and her rescuer because they seemed to have frozen._

_"Oi! Either get to the top or the bottom of the stairs and then put me down!" she ordered, trying futilely to turn her head to see whoever had rescued her (probably a guy since she was the only female who spent time around and in the dojo). A part of her hoped it was her father but she knew he was asleep or she would never have risked sneaking out with Wado Ichimonji._

_Kuina's rescuer quickly complied and set her down at the entrance of the building. Now that she wasn't hanging like some sort of naughty kitten, Kuina could finally look at him, only to pause. It was a man, tall and broad in the shoulders. He was wearing what looked like a hooded cloak except the hood had halfway fallen off, revealing an oddly familiar face, albeit older and with a scar running over one closed and possibly missing eye. As it was, the moonlight nearly washed the green out of his hair._

" _Eh? Zoro's dad?" she uttered out loud. She'd never met her rival's family but if his parents had noticed the boy sneaking out..._

_"What?" the guy asked, startled, before correcting her. "No, I'm not. I... It's complicated."_

_Kuina wasn't going to take that lame answer._

_"If you're not Zoro's father, then who the hell are you? What are you doing here?"_

_The man made a 'tch' noise and rubbed his head, knocking the hood the rest of the way off even as he made the three earrings in his left ear jingle with the gesture._

_"I told you, it's complicated."_

_"Then uncomplicate it," Kuina demanded, sliding a bit of Wado Ichimonji out with a quiet 'snick' sound._

_The man huffed and crossed his arms but he stated, "I am Zoro but I'm from the future."_

_"Eh?!"_

_"Told you it was complicated," the man claiming to be Zoro from the future said with a smirk._

_"And I told you to uncomplicate it!" Kuina snapped back. "You... how are you from the future? Why would you come back? Assuming you actually are Zoro from the future and not some sort of creep!"_

_The man sighed before he began to speak and Kuina felt her heart drop into her stomach as he did._

_"On this night, you and I fought with live swords for the first and the last time. It was your 2001st win and my 2001st loss against each other. Then you started crying about how it wasn't fair that I'd get stronger than you as we got older. That you wanted to be the best swordsman too. And I told you that my goal was to beat you, that it didn't matter if you were a girl. We made a vow that one day one of us would be the best swordsman in the world._

_"The next morning, I found out you had died falling down the stairs. Broken neck. It broke your father's heart. He didn't even understand why you were there with Wado Ichimonji to begin with and I felt... I'm the one who asked you to fight. But he let me have Wado when I asked and I vowed upon it that I would become so great that even the heavens would know my name." ___

____

_Kuina stared as he pulled out his white blade, sheath and all, and she recognized it as the one she still held in her own hands. A copy, a perfect twin, except not. It felt like the one she held except older, more worldly. It was her Zoro or a future version of him, at least._

____

_"So... I would've died if you hadn't...?"_

____

_"Aah," Future Zoro said in agreement. "But not this time. Or in this time. I got kind of confused by that." He turned away and started walking with that._

____

_"Wha-? Bu-? How?!" Kuina inquired plaintively as she fell into place walking at his side._

____

_"I, uh, kind of joined the crew of the second Pirate King in Shells Town when I was nineteen and he tends to make weird friends and go on crazy adventures. As a result, this weird old man offered to send the entire crew back for an hour, one for each of us, to change something in the past we regretted. Won't affect us in any way beyond knowing that somewhere out there, something went right, but it's been an interesting adventure so far," Future Zoro replied with a shrug._

____

_"You became a pirate?!"_

____

_"Captain's not the type to take 'no' for an answer," Future Zoro replied calmly. "Besides, they're good people and I've never once done something I've regretted."_

____

_Knowing her Zoro's firm sense of honor, that was really saying something._

____

_"If you keep following me, you'll get to meet them," Future Zoro added with a smirk. Kuina huffed._

____

_"Assuming you don't get lost trying to find your way back."_

____

_"Hah! She's got you pegged, Marimo!"_

____

_Kuina started as several people who actually had managed to keep the hoods of their cloaks up seemed to fade out of the trees surrounding them._

____

_"Shut it, Love Cook," Future Zoro retorted before groaning and twitching when he saw what one of the people was holding. "And put younger me down!"_

____

_"Aw, I don't know. Baby Marimo's kind of cute," replied the person who apparently was also the person holding Kuina's Zoro. Her Zoro let out a muffled growl, having been rather effectively bound and gagged. Kuina already had Wado Ichimonji unsheathed and she pointed it at the strange man._

____

_"Let him go!" she demanded._

____

_"Right away!" the man agreed, voice changing to something kind of awkward even as her Zoro hit the ground with a thump. Then Kuina flinched when she realized one of the other people was right beside her, crouched so they were closer in height to her. She caught a glimpse of the face under the hood, dark eyes with a scar under the left and a wide grin that seemed to glow despite his face being shadowed._

____

_"So you're the person who inspired Zoro! Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm-- OW!"_

____

_"How many times do we have to tell you, no name in the past?!" a female voice hissed as she shook the fist she'd used to hit the guy._

____

_"Stingy," the guy replied with a pout. Chuckles rang out from the others._

____

_"Why is my younger self tied up and gagged?" Future Zoro demanded._

____

_"He ran into us and got the wrong impression. We decided it was safer after he, uh..."_

____

_"He bit shipwright-san," a second female voice offered when the man who'd decided to explain trailed off._

____

_"Right. Surprised he still has all his teeth after that," muttered the one who'd tried explaining. "Anyway, we didn't want to get mauled by mini-you so we made sure he couldn't."_

____

_"Fair enough," Future Zoro replied with a shrug before turning to her Zoro and saying, "Oi, if you behave, I'll show you what it takes to become the Greatest Swordsman in the World."_

____

_"Hey, I thought-- That's what I'm aiming for!" Kuina complained._

____

_"This was just to give you the chance," Future Zoro corrected. "You have to get there on your own. You can still watch alongside him, though."_

____

_"Good idea. Maybe it'll stop the two of them from doing some of the stupid things you did," the first man who'd been holding Kuina's Zoro captive jeered._

____

_"You want a go, Shit Cook?" Future Zoro demanded._

____

_"If you're up for it, Marimo."_

____

_"Not here. Let's head back to the clearing by the cliff," insisted another male voice. Several voices agreed and suddenly they were all making good time to said open space. Kuina liked it there but had never considered having a battle in such a location. The cliffs made walking dangerous enough. That didn't seem to faze Future Zoro or the man he kept referring to as Cook as they took off their cloaks and handed them to whoever it was that had stepped up as seconds. Kuina found herself staring at Cook because she hadn't expected a pretty boy in a suit. The man with the wide grin bounced in place between Kuina and her now untied Zoro, a hand on each of their shoulders._

____

_"This is going to be good! Just watch!" he assured them._

____

_"Where're that guy's weapons?" Kuina wondered as Cook just stood there, hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face as Future Zoro put his version of Wado Ichimonji in his mouth (ew!) and stood at the ready with three swords. Then Future Zoro moved_ fast _. Kuina didn't even see him move. From her point of view, it looked like he'd disappeared from one side of the clearing and reappeared on the other in front of Cook, who stopped Future Zoro_ with his foot _. Future's Zoro's swords were rattling and she could see his arms straining but his opponent hadn't even removed his hands from his pockets. As she looked, she realized his leg was straining, however, to keep Zoro and his three swords at bay. Then the man flipped back as Future Zoro tried another maneuver, avoiding the blow._

____

_It continued for several minutes, shoes and swords meeting in a clash of steel and sparks. Future Zoro's swords turned black as they continued and his slices cut the air itself, as well as parts of the cliff face, shearing rock so it fell into the ocean, while his opponent's feet burned the grass and left footprints embedded into solid rock._

____

_"Fast," her Zoro muttered as they watched. Kuina made a noise of agreement, unable to look away. She almost missed the bouncy man nudge one of the others who nodded and pulled out a slingshot of all things._

____

_Cook fell back, not even breathless, as the man with the slingshot relentlessly fired at Future Zoro, who cut or redirected each and every perfectly aimed shot, no matter how weird the ammo was. Kuina found herself amazed at the variety even as she stood in awe at the finesse Future Zoro was displaying._

____

_A second swordsman, tallest of the strangers and with a very different style, took the sniper's place. Speed and skill versus sheer power and determination. It was beautiful to watch but even the second swordsman fell back under Future Zoro's onslaught._

____

_"We've got five minutes left. If you want to show them anything else, now's the time to do so," the first woman from earlier stated in warning._

____

_"Right," Future Zoro agreed as he sheathed his blades. Then he moved to stand in front of them. "I don't have the time to teach you properly but I can let you know what you should look into to get a proper head start. Haki's a necessity to reach your goal but you won't find anyone to teach it to you until at least the Paradise portion of the Grand Line, possibly not even until you hit the New World. Just know it involves will power, so make sure your will is as strong as you can make it. With it, you can make yourself and your swords impervious and know what your opponent will do as soon as they do, no matter how fast you're both moving._

____

_"The Marines use a martial arts style called the Six Powers. Don't use the same names or they'll accuse you of stealing government secrets. Soru lets you move at high speed. Tap ten times a second to get started. Tekkai lets you harden your body and is the best protection you can get until you finally figure out Haki. Rankyaku lets you use limbs like swords. Shigan uses fingers like bullets. Geppo allows people to walk on air. Kami-e lets you float around like paper. Even if you don't use them, knowing about them will only help because some of your opponents_ will.

____

_"Also, try and figure out the Breath of Life. It's what will allow you to cut anything. Or nothing at all if that's what you choose._ "

____

_"Yeah, right," Kuina's Zoro muttered, even though she could tell he half-believed in what Future Zoro was saying._

____

_"Koshiro-sensei can help with that last one. Finally, the most important thing you need to know is that the limits you think you have_ don't exist _. I've seen a lot of impossible things since joining this crew and I've had to reach impossible heights just keep up with everything the universe threw at us. You will too if you want to be the best. Now watch," Future Zoro ordered._

____

_Then he stood on the edge of the cliff facing the sea. In a single, swift movement, he drew Wado Ichimonji and ripped the sky and sea apart before sheathing the sword. For an instant, nothing moved and Kuina could only stare at the path Future Zoro had created. He turned and started back towards them as sea and sky roared back into place. The bouncy man giggled and cheered. Then he turned and looked at both Kuina and her Zoro._

____

_"You guys become strong, okay? Little me's going to need a strong crew when he sets out. After all, he's going to be the Pirate King," he stated, dark eyes bright and penetrating all at once. Kuina nodded and was aware of her Zoro doing the same._

____

_"Good!"_

____

_"Come on, Captain," Future Zoro said, grabbing the bouncy man's arm as he pulled him towards the trees where the others were already disappearing, Cook already in his cloak and Future Zoro pulling his on as soon as the man who had to be the Future Pirate King started bouncing alongside him as they walked. Kuina could swear she saw the trees through them before they disappeared into the dark entirely._

____

_Kuina turned towards her Zoro and asked, "Did that actually happen?"_

____

_Her Zoro glanced back at the damaged cliff and then looked at her as he frowned and said, "I think so."_

____

_"Good. We have a lot of work to do if we're going to be the best, huh?"_

____

_Her Zoro grinned in response._

____

_"First things first, though," Kuina continued. "I think we'd better write everything down before we forget about it or think it's a dream. Everything he said, everything about the fight, everything about meeting the Captain and Future Pirate King. Everything."_

____

_"Then what?"_

____

_"Then we memorize it and then we burn it. Who knows what people would do if we told them we got visited by your future self?" The very idea sent shivers down Kuina's spine._

____

_"Right. Do you have any paper on you?"_

____

_"No. Do you?"_

____

_"Do I look like I carry paper around?"_

____

_"Good point. Come on. I know where we can get some."_

____

_Despite their best efforts to keep what had happened hidden, it was obvious Kuina's father knew something had happened. Koshiro also wasn't thrilled with Kuina's new-found determination to defeat everything and everyone who came her way but Kuina wasn't about to let that stop her._

____

_When they left home nearly a decade later, it was with a white sword, the knowledge they'd meet their future captain somewhere in Shells Town when Zoro was nineteen, and with a few extra skills under their belts._

____

__

____

~*~*~*~*~*~

____

__  
__  


"Ah, I'm stuffed! That was good," Zoro cheered as he patted his full stomach. Kuina made a noise of agreement even as she stared in consternation at the bottomless pit that was Monkey D. Luffy.

____

"Thank you for feeding us, ma'am," Coby politely said to the woman who owned the bar.

____

"Of course! After all, you four saved this town."

____

"Well, I, uh, didn't exactly do much," Coby stated as he looked down at his lap and twiddled his fingers.

____

"So, you're our only other crew member?" Kuina asked Coby, breaking into his morose.

____

"Uh, sort of but not really. Luffy's just letting me tag along until I find a way to achieve my dream."

____

"Oh."

____

"So what can you do?" Zoro wondered as he gave Coby a pointed look.

____

"Um, I can sort of navigate?"

____

"Sort of navigate? The hell does that mean?" Zoro demanded.

____

"I... I'm not very good at it but I can usually get to where I mean to go!"

____

"Ha! That's better than this guy," Kuina stated with a large grin, hooking her thumb at Zoro. "I once saw him get lost in the dojo. He's even worse in a boat."

____

Zoro scowled at her and barked, "You're not much better! Who missed Boing Island by miles?"

____

"Hey, at least I'm capable of pointing the boat in the right direction!" Kuina growled back as she got into Zoro's face.

____

"As if that's hard!"

____

"More than you can do!"

____

"YOU WANNA FIGHT!"

____

"HELL, YES, I DO!"

____

Luffy burst out laughing even as Coby sweatdropped.

____

"You two are funny!"

____

"You're not very ladylike, are you, Kuina-san?"

____

"Huh? Why would I want to be a lady? They're boring. Now, fight me, Zoro!"

____

"Gladly!"

____

"Oi, not in the bar," Luffy ordered with a glance at the alarmed lady behind the counter.

____

"Yes, Captain."

____

The two had barely stood, however, when a contingent of Marines entered the bar. The two swordsmen paused, hands on their swords.

____

"Excuse me," the lead Marine started, "but you lot are pirates, correct?"

____

"That's right! I'm the captain and this is my crew!" Luffy stated with a bright grin.

____

"I'm... grateful for what you've done for us but we're Marines and we can't harbor pirates. We won't report you but you have to leave."

____

Luffy stood as well, adjusting his hat so it shadowed his face.

____

"Come on. Let's go," he ordered before walking out of the building. Kuina and Zoro loped along right behind. Coby paused, bowed at the owner with a quiet thanks, and then scrambled to follow. He caught up while Zoro and Kuina stared at the dinghy he and Luffy had arrived in.

____

"That's it?" Zoro asked, eyebrow twitching.

____

"I'm not sure why I was expecting more," Kuina admitted with a sigh.

____

"It's just until we get a bigger one. Now come on! Let's go!"

____

So everyone piled in and were treated to the rare sight of Marines saluting pirates as they drifted off.

____

It was a rather cramped space, which seemed to be the thing that irritated three out of four of the boat's occupants. Coby, on the other hand, was more dismayed by the fact that no one had thought to pick up any supplies in Shells Town.

____

"Sorry," Kuina apologized, looking truly regretful. "I thought you were doing it or I would have. I certainly don't trust the two idiots to have thought about it."

____

"No, it's all right," Coby reassured even as he used the rough map he'd thankfully kept on him to make sure they were heading in the correct direction. By the time he'd realized Luffy and Zoro had them floating aimlessly, they were far enough out into open water that Coby had decided to try for Orange Town. It wasn't the closest island by any means but it _was_ the closest town. They would definitely be able to get proper navigation equipment and supplies, possibly even a boat. Although, Coby had no clue how they would pay for any of that. He hoped they wouldn't have to steal it.

____

"So, what's yours?" Zoro asked where he was lazing about. To be fair, there wasn't enough room to do much more than that.

____

"Huh?"

____

"We know he's planning on being Pirate King and we're going to be the Best Swordsmen in the World," Zoro elaborated, gesturing at the other people in the boat as he did. "And you mentioned tagging along until you fulfilled your dream back on the island. So what is it?"

____

"Find a way to do it, actually," Coby corrected, his hands clenching the fabric of his pants at the knees and bunching it. He screwed his eyes shut even as he tried to bring up his courage.

____

"I... I want to join Migo!"

____

____

__~*~*~*~*~*~_ _

__  
_Occam's Razor roughly states that things should not be multiplied needlessly. Or, basically, that if there's an easy way and a hard way, the multiverse is going to choose the easiest route. It's lazy like that. What it means for our crew is a bit more complicated._

The crew of the Second Pirate King in the future that now never would be had been told that each time they went back, an hour for each crew member, it would result in a different world. From their point of view, that was true. Nothing they did would affect their own pasts. However, the multiverse doesn't like spawning off unnecessary new worlds. If Jack choosing a different meal at a restaurant doesn't affect whether or not Jane gets a promotion at her job, then why would there be a separate world for each? Sure, it's possible - quantum butterflies flapping their wings in one place and causing storms somewhere else and all that - but why bother? As stated, the multiverse is lazy. So if a group of time travelers spends an hour for each person in the past to fix something they regretted happening, why would the multiverse spawn off a new world for each hour spent back in time as long as nothing they did interfered with what they messed with elsewhere? 

____

This isn't true for each and every time the crew from the Future That Never Was went back, mind. Quantum mechanics are still a thing, after all, and changing some things are bound to change others so the exact situation any given crew member wanted to change might not have happened or happened in a different way. No, not all of the times the crew from that future went back changed things in this particular world. Only about half of them did.

____

But consider this: _For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider, the message was lost. For want of a message, the battle was lost. For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail._ The Strawhats can add, remove, and scatter an awful lot of nails in the course of an hour. Imagine what they could do with _six_.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: As stated above, this is inspired by Changing The Future (Redone). However, the fact I wrote my own version of Zoro's time in the past should be a pretty big hint that things are not going to be exactly the same as in that story. And there's definitely going to be some repercussions from that.
> 
> Isshin is the name of Kuina's family's dojo so I decided to borrow it for her family name. If it ever turns out to be different, I'll have to see about changing it.


	2. In Which There Is Kidnapping and An Extortion Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer in Chapter One
> 
> Warning: Canon-typical flashbacks and abuse scenes.
> 
> After how I left off last chapter, I had to create an entire backstory for Coby to explain his motives and why they changed because the only thing in canon we have for him is "I got on the wrong boat." Literally. That's it. With the way he keeps showing up, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a longer backstory in canon. If so, a good portion of this chapter would be jossed but, eh, we're already in AU territory with this story.
> 
> This chapter is also a bit shorter than I'd like as I'm aiming to put out at least ten thousand words once a month for this monster, with my aimed for date being the fifteenth. However, real life in the form of a new job and this story in the form of where it wanted the chapter to end were both against me. Better late than never, though.
> 
> Thanks to JED1 and The Patient One for looking this chapter over!

**_Chapter Two - In Which There Is Kidnapping and An Extortion Ring_ **

Some things change. Time is a current and, at the same time, a still pool. Dipping a finger in can cause ripples that clash and collide, yet some things still stay the same despite the ripples as the current of time rushes forward. A pirate ship attacks a pleasure cruise about the same time a boy made of rubber decides to brave a whirlpool in a barrel. Said rubber boy ends up beating the pirates after the barrel is rescued and he absconds in a dinghy with the pirates' pink-haired cabin boy. Said cabin boy manages to get them both to the closest Marine Base in the East Blue, namely Shells Town. Then havoc ensues and the Marines left standing salute the leaving pirates before punishing themselves for saluting.

But some things are different. Very different.

~*~*~*~*~*~

_"I want to join Migo!"_

~*~*~*~*~*~

For Coby, everything started with a rumor.

Coby had grown up in a small village. Tiny, really, with only three houses and Coby had lived in one all on his own for as long as he could remember. Most people preferred to live in the town just over the hill it was named after.

According to the two elderly couples who lived in the other two houses, his father had been a Marine who had died in the line of duty before ever finding out his mother was pregnant. His mother had apparently always been a frail thing and she'd never recovered from the shock of losing her husband. Coby had been a toddler when she'd passed on.

The old folks had doted on him in his parents' stead as much as they were able and Coby had gotten used to a system where everyone shared everything. As he'd gotten older, so had the elderly couples and Coby had started heading into Hill Town early in the morning to jump on one of the several communal fishing boats and catching fish for a few hours, enough to put meat on everyone's table and hopefully a few extra to sell in the town's market in the afternoon. He'd also learned to abhor pickpockets and thieves as their sticky hands often deprived the people of Coby's home of small necessities. A part of him dreamed of being like the father he'd never known, of becoming a Marine and strong enough to stop all crime in its tracks. A Marine like Sora in the comics that ran in the newspaper. A foolish dream, he knew, but one he clung to all the same. Until the rumors started in Hill Town.

"Did you hear? Someone prevented a corrupt king from taking his throne after his predecessor died."

"No, that's not it at all. The king already on the throne was corrupt and he got replaced."

"Well, I heard they got rid of the monarchy entirely and someone calling themselves Migo was responsible."

"Did you hear? Supposedly it was a government-sponsored massacre!"

"Where did you hear that?"

"It's in the paper! Some journalist says they got the information from Migo."

"Did you hear? The World Government sent a group of assassins to murder all the guests at a wedding because they didn't want the families involved to join forces and Migo stopped them!"

"What? Really?!"

On and on it went. It was all the buzz. Migo did this and Migo did that. Except no one seemed to know who or what Migo was.

Coby discovered the name meant 'friend' or 'the stalk that supports the rice' depending on what dialect was used but nothing about the recent use of the name when he perused the Hill Town library. Asking the average citizen on the streets of the town who they thought Migo was got Coby a range of answers.

"It has to be someone with a vendetta against the World Government."

"I heard it was the name of a secret government task force aimed at eliminating corruption."

"Don't you know anything? Migo doesn't exist."

It left Coby in a bit of a quandary but also more than a little curious. He had more luck with the local newsstand and started scouring any newspaper he could get his hands on for information to solve this mystery and took especial delight when he managed to get his hands on a handful of papers from the Grand Line instead of just the local East Blue one. Those newspapers did a lot to help quell the doubts that had formed thanks to the naysayers. Migo did exist. Or, at least, the people in the Grand Line seemed to believe so.

As far as Coby could tell, it started with a note that always contained a warning and was signed by Migo. From there, things could go one of two ways. If the person who received the note publicly admitted to their misdeeds and started to make amends for them, nothing more would happen. If the warning was ignored or otherwise disregarded, the pranks would start.

The pranks varied but they were always designed to catch attention. Someone might be able to hide the fact they got a missive from Migo. It was harder to hide the fact they were wandering around a market with a note pinned to their back announcing how much their outfit cost and that the money had come out of the fund to build a new hospital, such as happened to one corrupt politician. The politician didn't even notice the paper on their back until far too late for him to hide it and ended up jailed for his abuse of office. On the stand of his trial, he admitted he had never saw, heard, or felt it being placed, nor did anyone else. The way witnesses talked about it, one moment the paper wasn't there and the next it was.

That wasn't all. One man, head of crime on a small island, responded to Migo's missive by locking himself in his heavily-guarded room all day and night, the room's one key kept on his person. The next morning, despite the door remaining locked and no one disturbing any traps or guards, the man woke up with the word 'Slaver' clearly marked on his forehead. A few more days of writing appearing on his body any time he slept sent the paranoid man outside into the waiting arms of the local Marines, who took great interest in the ghost supposedly drawing on the man in addition to what those words said.

The only other sign someone had been in the room was a single slip of paper with a symbol on it, the same symbol that had been on the bottom of the list of crimes pinned to the politician's back. It consisted of a single eye surrounded by three hands placed fingertip to wrist, palms facing inward, in a downward-pointing triangle. People were calling it the Sign of Migo and the meaning of the symbol was clear.

_'I'm watching you.'_

Those few stories Coby managed to glean from the news fascinated him. Here was someone like Sora who fought corruption, except they were real! What's more, they didn't go after just pirates but people who abused their power and hurt people. It was exactly the type of person Coby wanted to be and his daydreams now often included him fighting alongside Sora in a Marine uniform while leaving behind little slips of paper bearing the Sign of Migo.

Those newspapers also did a bit more than inform Coby about Migo. Coby noticed the Grand Line version of the paper was different from the East Blue one. Things considered to be rumor in the East Blue were treated as fact and things the people of the East Blue knew to be fact were omitted or ignored entirely. Things like Devil Fruits being a reality or reading that an epidemic was continuing on because of lack of medicine when everyone in the East Blue knew that the Gecko Islands were running such a high surplus on medicine that it was causing it to go down in price all across the East Blue. People were dying because no one who needed it knew to ask about the surplus nor did those who have said surplus know anyone needed it.

That information prompted Coby to send a missive to the newspaper. What he got back from the newspaper's editor was alarming.

_'Look, whoever you are, I respect you for trying to do what is right. But keep what you know to yourself. I've had journalists disappear for less and they're actually allowed to know some of the things you've managed to stumble across. Keep your head down or you might disappear too.'_

Disappearing journalists? That made Coby go back and look at who had written the articles that mentioned Migo. He felt sick when he realized that none of the journalists who mentioned Migo in the East Blue paper ever mentioned Migo again. Some never had their byline in the paper again. Of course, Coby reasoned, that might be because they were transferred over to whoever wrote the Grand Line paper or fired or something but, considering the note he'd gotten from the editor, not even Coby was naive enough to actually believe that.

Finding that out, finding out how the World Government controlled the flow of information and that people could be hurt or even die because of it put a large dent in Coby's faith in the World Government and removed a lot of the shine from the Marines that served it. Still, he clung stubbornly to his dream of being a Marine because they did take out bad guys like pirates and such and Coby still idolized Sora. At least, he did until one fateful day...

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What happened?" Mitsu-oba asked as she dabbed at Coby's split lip with a wet cloth.

"I told you the kids in Hill Town don't like me," he replied evasively. The children of Hill Town often wandered about the woods between the village and Hill Town and more than one had expressed jealousy at Coby living right by the people who made such delicious sweets.

"Oh? And what did you do?"

"I- you-! Ugh. I said I wanted to be a Marine like my father. Some kids asked where he was and I told them he was dead. They laughed and said, 'Good! The only good Marine is a dead one.' And I... kind of... yelled at them for that," Coby admitted, embarrassed. Mitsu-oba sighed as she applied some salve to his lips.

"Did you raise your hand against them?"

"No, Mitsu-oba. But I really wanted to."

"Good. Nothing's worth destroying your integrity over. Hitting them wouldn't have changed their minds. And whatever people tell you, your father was a good man. Don't forget that. Now go see if Sashimono needs any help, all right? It'll keep you out of trouble, you scamp," Mitsu-oba replied, tweaking Coby's nose. Coby wrinkled his nose in protest but scurried away for Sashimono-jii's workshop as Mitsu-oba cleaned up the first aid kit and went to help Nouko-oba with the watering.

Sashimono-jii took one look at Coby's split lip and shook his head even as he handed over a broom. It was silent for a bit as man and boy got to work.

"Why do you stay?" Sashimono-jii asked as he sanded down the table he had just built.

"Why do you keep making furniture?" Coby countered as he swept up curls of wood shavings. Sashimono-jii paused before he went back to his slow and steady sanding.

"When I was your age, this was my dream. Making beautiful furniture that everyone would want. I'm lucky enough to have lived my dream and it seems a shame to give it up now just because I'm old. You, on the other hand, are not here because you dream of taking care of a bunch of old farts but because you see it as your duty to us."

"I don't think Panya-san or the Aunties would like being called old farts, Sashimono-jii. Besides, you and Panya-san and Nouko-oba and Mitsu-oba raised me," Coby replied, broom still brushing the floor at an even pace.

"Aye, we did. Not bad for an old man and three old ladies, huh? But don't think we haven't seen you pouring over those newspapers. That we haven't noticed the way you cheer when someone bad gets taken down and the way you hate bullies and thieves. Or all the fights you seem to lose. This place is far too small for you and your dreams. Hill Town too. You're going to be something amazing one day. I just know it."

Coby flushed but didn't say anything. Just went about his chores helping the people who had raised him.

The Aunties, as Coby called them, lived together, just as Sashimono-jii and Panya-san did. Nouko-oba was in charge of the garden, which was an impressively large patch filled with fruit trees and vegetables and flowers woven together in a way that looked random but actually deterred pests and made sure complimentary plants were next to each other. Mitsu-oba's carefully tended beehives ensured everything was pollinated as well as providing them with honey and wax for candles she dipped herself. A good part of the honey ended up in Panya-san's baked goods, another part into salves Mitsu-oba made herself, and any cleared wood went to Sashimono-jii to shape as he willed. Between the food they grew, the flowers, the honey and wax and products made from them, the baked goods, the handmade furniture, and Coby's own fishing, they lived well and even often had things to sell at the Hill Town market for the things they couldn't make or grow. In fact, Coby often wondered why they never seemed to have enough money. This was the day he found out why.

After he finished sweeping Sashimono-jii's shop, Coby went to check in on the ladies. The Aunties insisted they had the watering well in hand for the garden and Panya-san just pushed a little honey cake in Coby's mouth as she demanded he go outside and play. It wasn't a market day, there was no reason to take anything to sell. As for buying things, well, he had the pocket change the old folks insisted on giving him.

"If you don't have anything for me to do, I think I'll head to Hill Town. See if there's any new newspapers. Do you need me to pick up anything for you?"

"Not today, sweet. Make sure my husband and your Aunties don't need anything and then go on, okay? And try not to get into any more fights," Panya-san replied as she dusted rice flour from her hands.

A quick ask around revealed no one wanted or needed anything, although Nouko-oba pressed a few extra beris on him to 'go buy some sweets'. Coby thanked her and went to his house to fetch his own stash of money from where he'd hidden it in a secret compartment under a loose floorboard Sashimono-jii had fashioned for him ages ago. The wood had warped slightly over the years and it took some effort to yank the board out. A little too much effort as Coby ended up flying backwards into his stack of loose newspapers with a yelp, sending paper into the air in a sort of explosion.

Once everything settled, Coby sat up, loose pages of newspaper falling off of him, and sighed. Going to town was going to have to wait until he got everything back into order again and, considering the paper scattered everywhere, wasn't likely to happen at all today. Oh well. It wasn't like anyone was expecting him to bring something back or needed his help right now. So Coby hid the money on his person with the rest, put the floorboard back, rolled up his metaphorical sleeves, and set to work figuring out which page went to what paper and putting them all back in chronological order.

Coby quickly became absorbed in his work and missed the noise from outside that started up when he was halfway done. He didn't, however, miss Mitsu-oba bursting into the house, looking frantic, only for her to freeze in horror.

"No. No, no, no! You're supposed to be in Hill Town right now!"

"Mitsu-oba? What is it? What's wrong?" Coby asked, feeling frightened.

"You're not supposed to be here," she moaned and then there was a large and intimidating figure standing behind her, filling the doorway and backlit so it was impossible to see any features.

"Oh? Who's this?" a masculine voice hissed.

"H-he's my nephew! He just came to visit and help me get my house in order, as you can see!" Mitsu-oba lied. It made Coby give her a confused and wary look. He wasn't actually related to any of the older folks, even if they had raised him, and Mitsu-oba and Nouko-oba had been living together for _ages_ and were rather proud of that fact. Why would she lie about that?

"Ah. Then you don't mind paying for him as well while he's here, do you?" the man replied before reaching out and snagging Coby by the arm.

"H-hey!" Coby cried as he was dragged unceremoniously out of his home. He felt a ray of hope when he saw a bunch of men in the basic Marine uniform, all white shirts and blue pants and neckerchiefs. He twisted to give the man holding him a look only to feel his stomach drop somewhere below his toes when he realized the man holding him was wearing the coat of a Marine officer.

"Lieutenant Itachi, sir!" several of the Marines called out, standing at attention and saluting. Lieutenant Itachi tossed Coby forward so that he landed hard on the ground.

"Ow," Coby whimpered as he debated whether or not to move. He did turn his head enough to catch sight of the old folks looking horrified.

"I found a mouse creeping about. Make sure the old folks pay for his protection as well. It would be a shame if something happened to the brat. ฿50,000 should be sufficient."

Coby hadn't thought his stomach could sink any further. He didn't have nearly that much squirreled away and the likelihood the elders did was slim.

"B-but we don't have that much!" Nouko-oba protested, confirming Coby's suspicions.

"Oh? Even after we were so nice and gave you that discount because you're so old?" Lieutenant Itachi replied. "Most people pay twice what you do. As is, you've only paid enough to cover two adults, not four adults and a child. That is, if you still don't want your discount."

"No! We... we want it! We just don't have enough to pay for all five of us," Sashimono-jii insisted before offering, "But I'm an old man. My share can go to cover the boy."

"Now, now. I'm not unreasonable. You've paid enough for four out of five. Whoever that fifth is doesn't matter to me. But don't be surprised if they have an... accident before the month is over. Come on, boys. We're done here."

"Yes, sir!"

Coby watched the Marines fall into step behind their leader and leave with a blank look even as the old folks gathered round him protectively.

"Oh, sweet. Are you all right?" Nouko-oba inquired once the Marines were gone.

"I... I don't understand," Coby said. "I thought taxes were supposed to pay for the Marines, not..."

"It's extortion, is what it is," Panya-san sniffed.

"They've been demanding payment from us and Hill Town once a month for the past year-and-a-half," Sashimono-jii explained.

"We've only managed to pay because they offered us a 'discount' and they didn't know you were here. You were usually in the woods or out fishing. And I'd claimed Nouko-chan and I were widows and that your house was mine. I was coming in to hide the pictures of you and your parents," Mitsu-oba added.

"B-but they're supposed to protect us! Not... This is why the kids in Hill Town hate Marines, isn't it?" Coby realized.

"And once you become one, you'll clean up bastards like these ones. I have no doubt about it," Sashimono-jii insisted.

"Language!" Panya-san scolded, whapping her husband's shoulder.

"Yes, dear."

"Anyway, he can't stay," Panya-san continued. Coby and the Aunties protested.

"What?"

"Why would you say that, Panya-chan?!"

"But I don't want to go!"

"She's right," Sashimono-jii interrupted. "Since we didn't properly purchase 'protection', those awful wolves in sheep's clothing will be sending pirates our way. Best to get everyone safely away before then. We'll pack bags and head for that old cave in the hill."

"The one we used to play in as children?" Mitsu-oba asked.

"That's the one. In the morning, we'll move enough stuff there to hide for a month and we can hide there as soon as we see a glimpse of the pirates they'll send our way. If they destroy our homes, so be it. We can rebuild a house and regrow a garden. What we can't get back is each other."

"Right."

"Come on, girls. Like these two men know how to pack."

"We'll get everything ready so we can leave right away in the morning!"

"R-right," Coby agreed nervously. If he were honest, he felt so scared. But at least he'd be with the old folks. Panya-san and the Aunties were a whirlwind once they got going and Coby soon found himself fed, bathed, and tucked in, a full travel pack ready to go come morning and a promise of breakfast on Panya-san's lips as she closed the door behind them, leaving Coby alone in his home once more.

He didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep, yet Coby found himself jerking awake some time in the middle of the night. Something was wrong. It was too hot, it was hard to breathe, and the room was brighter than it should be. A glance at his window showed it was lit up a hellish red.

Coby shot out of bed and into his waiting clothes, grabbing his pack as a sort of afterthought as he rushed out of his home and into a nightmare. The garden was burning and the flames would soon reach the houses.

"Aunties! Panya-san! Sashimono-jii!" Coby yelled out in panic, skirting around the fire as he ran towards the closest house in hopes of waking the Aunties and getting them safely out of their home. Something smashed him to the ground before he got far, however.

"Trying to run away, eh? Looks like we got here right in time," a man stated from above Coby, his foot grinding Coby into the dirt even as he dragged the pack from Coby's grip.

"Get off! Help!" Coby shrieked.

"Shut up."

Then something hit Coby in the head hard enough to knock him out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Coby woke up with a headache and an ocean breeze blowing steadily in his face even as it made the sails above rustle and billow and the ropes holding them creak. In the distance, someone was yelling about the compass being broken. Coby blinked blearily up at the sails before realization - and panic - set in. Judging by the position of the sun, it was mid-morning and they were heading north-west.

"Whaah!" he wailed even as he managed to sit up in spite of the ropes wrapped around his middle. Once he was somewhat upright, he sat panting even as he looked around.

"Oh. He's alive. Captain!"

"Keep us sailing south, you bastards! Eh? The runt made it? Good. We might be able to make something ransoming him after all," a woman replied even as heavy thumping footsteps made Coby turn to look. She was the largest woman he had ever seen and was as wide as she was tall, which was impressive considering she towered over Coby. The equally massive mace she toted around looked almost normal in comparison to her. Coby let out a whine at the sight of her, having seen her wanted poster in the newspapers.

"Eh? What was that? Speak up," the woman demanded harshly.

"Y-you're Iron Mace Alvida."

"That's right! Boys! Who's the fairest in all the seas?"

"You are, Alvida-sama!" came the chorused call.

Coby blinked. A moment later, his breath was driven out of him as Alvida's foot connected with his solar plexus.

"I didn't hear you, runt! Let's try this again. Who's the fairest in all the seas?"

Gasping desperately for air, Coby managed a whispered, "You... are."

"Louder," Alvida demanded, kicking him in the face this time before swinging her mace off of her shoulder and letting it hover threateningly.

"You are. You are! YOU ARE!" Coby replied, panicked, accidentally spitting blood as he did.

"That's right. And stop getting your blood all over my deck."

"Yes, ma'am," Coby squeaked in agreement.

"Now, how much do you think folks would pay to get you back?"

"Um... I thought I was here because they couldn't pay?" Coby answered, pressing the tips of his forefingers together nervously. They definitely wouldn't be able to now. Assuming they'd lived, the garden that was their main source of income was gone. Alvida growled.

"Figures. Those damn Marines are getting too greedy. If we didn't get a share of the spoils... And here I was hoping the reason they had us attack was politically motivated. Not often they ask us to spirit someone away in the middle of the night."

"Wait, what? You-you work with the Marines? But how is that even possible?" Coby wondered before cringing away as Alvida glared at him.

"Hmph. Pathetic, aren't you? I should just kill you. One less mouth to feed."

"Please, don't! I... I can be useful, I promise!" Coby begged even as tears started to fill his eyes.

"Oh? It better be worth my time, runt."

"I-I... Y-You...," Coby stammered even as he tried to latch on to something. He could fish. He was decent at selling fish. He knew things. Wait! He knew things!

"You're going north-west," Coby blurted out.

"WHAT?!" Alvida raged, coming so close to Coby that he fell back with a terrified cry. "IF THIS IS SOME SORT OF TRICK-"

"It's not! I promise! I had to get around in a fishing boat without a compass all the time and I learned how to tell which direction is which by where the sun is! This far north in the East Blue, the sun is always slightly south, even at midday. We're heading north-west," Coby insisted, knowing his life depended on it.

Alvida looked thoughtful. Then she snapped her fingers and pointed at one of her men who was nearby.

"You. Take the runt and chain him up by the helm. Tell Norstead we've got a living replacement for his damn broken compass. And swab this deck! It needs to be as clean and beautiful as I am!"

Coby spent that first trip chained by his ankle to the helm, answering to the best of his ability as to what direction they were going any time he was asked. They barely fed and watered him and Coby didn't dare fight back. So he was as surprised as her crew when Alvida ordered his chains removed for the second trip.

"I don't mean anything bad, Captain, but why?" Alvida's helmsman inquired. Alvida snorted.

"Where's the runt going to run off to? But with a bit more movement, he can actually be useful for more than pointing out which way we're going. Besides, he's rank and everything on this ship should be spic and span, even its prisoners."

She had a point, Coby realized as he was unchained and led away to wash up. He was too scared to steal a boat and if he did, where would he go? Even if someone was still there at home, he'd just bring trouble. Then again, if he got away, he could report Alvida and that awful Lieutenant Itachi. He'd long ago memorized the location of every Marine base in the East Blue and he was the only one who actually knew which way they were going (and wasn't that sad?)

Plan in mind, Coby played the meek and terrified cabin boy to a T, mostly because it was true. But he surreptitiously started building a raft on the tiny island Alvida had claimed as her own, wishing he'd paid closer attention to Sashimono-jii's building skills as he did, and subtly plotting courses that put Alvida's ship as close to Marine bases as he dared.

Coby quickly found out his knowledge was valuable to Alvida, enough to keep him alive. It meant he could sleep peacefully at night knowing no one would murder him in his sleep, but it also meant a closer eye was kept on him to insure he neither ran off nor was 'stolen' by a rival crew. His raft-building suffered as he didn't have nearly enough leeway to sneak away as often and, when he did manage to find time, he was often forced to replace parts that had rotted or been damaged due to neglect. He couldn't exactly put it some place safe from storms, after all.

The day a Marine ship appeared, Coby felt a frisson of hope before it was buried under the realization that his plan had a major flaw. Now that he wasn't tied up, it looked like he was part of the crew and if the Marines took umbrage at pirates being in their waters, they'd sink Coby along with everyone else on board Alvida's ship, the Miss Love Duck.

To Coby's surprise, the Marine ship didn't attack even as it moved to intercept and Alvida ordered them to meet the advancing galleon. Soon they were sailing side-by-side.

"Ahoy there! Permission for our Captain and a small entourage to board?"

"Permission granted," Alvida replied.

Thus Coby found himself witness to Iron Mace Alvida acting as hostess to a small group of Marines led by a man taller and broader than Alvida herself, although most of his weight appeared to be muscles and not fat.

"Captain Nezumi sends his regards as does Lieutenant Itachi. Both spoke highly of your work, Lady Alvida. I was hoping you would be open to working with me as well."

"Did either of them tell you my going rate?" Alvida inquired. The man in charge nodded and gestured for his subordinate to step forward. Said subordinate brought up the case he was carrying and opened it to reveal it was full of gem-encrusted jewelry before setting it on the table for Alvida's perusal. Alvida looked over the contents with a discerning eye before nodding and sitting back, relaxing slightly, which was the sign for her men to stand down. Hidden weapons were surreptitiously slipped back into their sheaths and holders.

"What do you need?" Alvida demanded.

"Gilly Island's about ready to cave into our demands but it's not quite there yet. We want you to be the blow that cracks her wide open."

"That area's under Kasasagi's protection," Alvida pointed out with a frown as she leaned forward. A few hidden weapons once again slipped out of sheathes.

"Oh, I've already visited Old Magpie. Gave him enough shinies to turn his head the other way. Whuhuhu!" the visiting captain assured her with a rather nerve-wracking laugh.

Coby's nails bit into his palms, he was clenching his fists so tight, as he watched Alvida accept the deal. So many Marine officers were involved in this awful farce, either as instigators or by willing to be bribed. When the captain turned to leave, the dam broke.

"How could you? Those people trust you!" he yelled. He barely saw the man whip around before he was backhanded into a wall.

"Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" the Marine captain barked as Alvida's crew laughed. The Marines who had come over with their captain didn't even look back, just continued on the way back to their ship. They weren't going to help him.

"Well?" the captain demanded before smashing Coby's face down against the deck and stepping on Coby's head, grinding him down for a moment before letting him up. Coby carefully moved into a kneeling position, eyes downcast as he watched drops of his own blood splash against the deck. Alvida would make him mop it up soon.

"No one," he whispered.

"That's what I thought," the man hissed before turning away and giving Alvida a disturbingly charming smile. "Really, Lady Alvida, I don't know why you even have _that_ on board."

"Believe me, the moment he stops being useful, I plan on killing him myself," Alvida replied airily as she saw the man off.

"Good riddance. May your business always be profitable, my dear lady." Then he swept into a bow and kissed her hand, making Alvida blush and her men have to hide their gagging. Coby just shivered, more horrified by being dismissed as an it by this man to be as disconcerted in the man's taste in women.

"Are all Marines corrupt?" Coby muttered as he watched their ship sail away while he mopped his blood off the deck. He cringed when he heard Alvida snort, realizing she'd heard him.

"The Marines? Ha! For someone so smart, you're really stupid, aren't you? Don't you know? You probably thought they'd rescue you instead of killing you for being my cabin boy. Well, I've got news for you runt. Most of the Marines are corrupt bastards running the East Blue as part of a Marine-run extortion racket. You want to get anywhere, you've got to work with them. There's a few holdouts, of course, but it's only a matter of time before they're brought to heel. And I plan on staying far away from them until they do. Not that it's hard.

"No, it's the bounty hunters that are the real ones to watch out for. The ones good enough we can't just take out won't be bribed for less than what their quarry's head is worth. They probably won't kill you but it's not worth their time to help you, either. Well, except for the Demons of the East. I've heard they can't be bribed and they'll mow down the whole crew to get to the head with the bounty. And they don't do it for the money, either, or they'd be turning in more live bounties. Sick bastards are in it for the thrill. You see them, you might as well roll over and die because you're already dead anyway."

"Oh," Coby quietly replied. Was no one actually doing any good in the world? Wait. Migo was. Coby still read things in the papers he managed to sneak, things about corruption revealed and people stepping up to do something about it. He wanted nothing to do with the Marines taking over the East Blue island by island but Migo? Was still something to aspire to. And so Coby's dream _shifted_.

Then, one day, a barrel was found floating in the ocean and nothing would ever be the same for Coby again.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm hungry!" Luffy complained. Zoro grunted in agreement.

"If you'd bothered to properly restock first," Kuina muttered but didn't finish her sentence before sighing as her own stomach audibly grumbled. Damn it all, she and Zoro just got out of a starvation situation. They didn't need a second one, especially so rapidly on the heels of the first.

"How soon until we reach somewhere?" she asked Coby.

"Well, uh, we'll reach Orange Town by tonight if the wind stays in our favor. We should be able to get supplies: food, water, navigation equipment, maybe even a larger boat there," Coby answered.

There was silence for a moment but silence would never last long with the Strawhat Pirates.

"You know, if you're going to travel with us, you need to be a lot stronger," Zoro pointed out with a look at Coby.

"Yes, I know," Coby agreed, looking more than a little sheepish.

"Good. I'm going to teach you speed and he's going to teach you strength," Kuina replied, pointing a thumb at Zoro, "and since there's not a lot of room, he's going to start with basic exercises and I'm going to start with dodge-training."

Coby took in the evil grins sported by the Demons of the East Blue and gulped.

"Wh- what do I have to do?" Coby asked anyway.

"Easy. Zoro's going to give you exercises to build up your core, what little you can do in this little boat and, while you're doing them, you're going to be dodging me."

"Um, what? OW!"

"You didn't dodge," Kuina pointed out, waving the fist she'd just hit Coby with. Coby yelped and training began. It didn't last long.

"I'm exhausted," Coby moaned in the bottom of the dinghy, "And bruised."

"Already? That wasn't even a warm up," Kuina muttered even as Zoro went, "Tch."

"Shishishi! You really are a wimp!" Luffy crowed.

"Oi! Don't say that!" Coby demanded, bolting upright so he could smack the back of Luffy's head.

"Oh? You're up? Guess we can get back to training," Zoro suggested with a smirk. Coby paled and whimpered.

"Hey, guys! There's a bird! Meat!"

Not having quite enough experience with Luffy's impetuousness, neither Zoro nor Kuina reacted in time to prevent Luffy from stretching his arms up to grab the bird. Coby was starting to get an inkling, but wasn't in a position to actually stop Luffy. Thus, none of the three moved in time to prevent Luffy from slingshotting himself up into the air and grabbing the bird. And unfortunately, the bird proved to be much bigger than expected and grabbed Luffy instead of him grabbing it.

"Ah! Let go of me, you stupid bird!"

Then the bird took off. Back on the boat, the remaining three occupants blinked and stared.

"Did we seriously just lose our captain?" Kuina wondered.

"Ah! Island gulls are known to eat meat! Luffy's going to be eaten!" Coby cried.

"How did that idiot become—" Zoro started before abruptly stopping, sharing looks with Kuina. Coby might have missed them if he hadn't spent two years watching for every blow coming his way. As it was, he wondered what their hesitation was about.

Zoro threw an oar at Kuina, who caught it easily, as he said, "We better get going if we want to catch up to him."

"Right," Kuina agreed before adding, "Oi, Shrimp, make sure we're heading in the right direction. And hold on to something. We're about to go _fast_."

"What? WAH!"

Never before had a boat in the East Blue gone so fast. Then again, no boat in the East Blue had ever had two people skilled in their own version of Soru rowing before.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Darn it! Luffy flailed wildly, trying to get his head out of the grip of the massive bird's beak. He was supposed to be eating the bird, not the other way around! In his struggle, he started stretching, hoping to catch the bird and wrestle it the ground. He did manage to punch it - right in the eye. The bird opened its mouth to let out a pained squawk and Luffy plummeted. Luffy stretched, trying to grab the bird, but it shifted away, letting Luffy fall.

"You stupid bird!" Luffy yelled at it as he made his way swiftly down to the town below. The street did not appreciate his landing, buckling and groaning in protest even as a cloud of dust and debris went flying.

"What was that?"

"What happened?"

"Is everyone all right?"

"A person! I saw a person fall!"

"Eh? Was it a suicide?"

"Where did he fall from?"

"Wow. That was a long way," Luffy stated as he stood up and brushed himself off, making sure to check his hat was in one piece on his head as he did.

"EH?! HE"S STILL ALIVE?!"

"What is he?"

"Hey, kid, you all right?"

"Who are you?"

"Huh?" Luffy turned to take in the crowd, blinking before smiling and waving. "Hello! My name's Luffy and I'm a pirate."

"Pirate?"

"They've sent someone already?"

"Oh no!"

“We’re not going to let you destroy our town!”

"Get him!"

And then the crowd very quickly turned into a mob.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Orange Town's port was oddly quiet when Zoro, Kuina, and Coby made landfall.

"This is where we were aiming to head for anyway," Coby informed the two swordsmen. "Hopefully the people here know where the island gulls nest so we can rescue Luffy-san!"

"If we can find someone," Zoro pointed out as they took in the deserted docks.

"Where is everybody?" Kuina wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe the island gulls ate them too."

"AH! Don't say that!" Coby demanded even as Kuina scoffed at Zoro's suggestion.

"Like their wingspan would fit between these buildings, dumbass."

"Tch," Zoro replied before moving away from the other two.

"Where you going?" Kuina demanded.

"To find our Captain," Zoro answered as he walked off. Kuina sighed as he went before turning to Coby.

"Well, he's going to be lost for the rest of the day. What say you and me go and find someone who might actually know something?"

"Um, right," Coby agreed uncertainly as the two of them headed in the opposite direction of Zoro. They didn't get far before the noise of a crowd reached them. Turning instinctively toward the sound, both Coby and Kuina went wide-eyed at the sight of a mob rapidly approaching, a laughing Luffy in the lead. When Luffy saw them, his smile somehow widened and he stretched his arms to latch onto a building behind them.

"Oh no," Kuina moaned at the realization that the arms were boxing her and Coby in. Coby squeaked as Luffy shot toward them as his arms snapped back to size. He bowled the two over so they folded over his shoulders as they flew down the street at an impressively decent speed, Coby shrieking all the way. They landed hard, Kuina groaning, Coby gasping in fear and pain, and Luffy still giggling like a naughty schoolchild.

"Tag! You're it!" Luffy announced cheerfully. A beat and then, "Oh, wait. They're it. We'd better run, you guys."

"Wait, what?"

"Wah!"

Coby somehow managed to keep wailing despite being, for all intents and purposes, dragged by an arm around his neck. Kuina was back on Luffy's shoulder, facepalming as she heard the crowd's shouting.

"That filthy pirate just took that kid and woman hostage!"

"That fiend!"

"Get him!"

"Captain, what did you do to make them chase you?" Kuina asked. Luffy looked thoughtful and turned red in the face, although it was hard to tell if the flush was due to thinking or running. Kuina was willing to bet on the former, however, as he'd seemed fine before being asked to think.

"Um... hm... Oh! I accidentally damaged their street pretty badly when I landed. They started chasing me after making sure I was okay. That was nice of them."

"Uh-huh," Kuina absently agreed as Coby stopped screaming and gave Luffy an incredulous look. "And how did they find out you're a pirate?" she added.

"I told them!" Luffy informed her with a wide grin.

"Right," she drawled before saying, "You might want to change your grip on the kid. He's starting to look a little blue.

"Huh? Oops! Sorry, Coby!" Luffy swung Coby up, accidentally shouldering the poor kid in the solar plexus as he put Coby up on his shoulder. Coby lay there like a sack of potatoes, gasping for air as tears and a _'why me'_ expression covered his face. After a few minutes, Kuina pointed left.

"Hey, Captain, go that way. We're docked over there."

"Okay!"

"Wait, what about Zoro?" Coby demanded. Kuina snorted.

"If he's not already there because he walked in a freaking circle, then we'll just sail to the other side of the island and pick him up there. With the way he gets lost, he's probably already there and waiting for us."

Luffy burst out laughing again, making Kuina privately wonder the same thing that Zoro had nearly voiced out loud in front of Coby: how the heck did this idiot become the Pirate King? Coby was shooting Kuina another of his incredulous looks and, if he kept it up, his face was going to get stuck that way one day. Then Luffy burst out onto the waterfront only to suddenly skid to a stop. Kuina and Coby twisted in order to look over their shoulders and see why he stopped. A group stood on the docks and more joined the mass from a ship flying a pirate flag.

"Well," the man in the lead said with a leer, "What do we have here? Look, boys! They came to greet us."

Raucous laughter followed that proclamation and many of the pirates on the dock started fingering their weapons with looks of anticipation.

"Listen up! We're the Bug Pirates and if you don't want your town razed to the ground, you'll bring us all of your money, food, and medicine," the leader announced, pointing a sword at Luffy even as he addressed the crowd that had stopped a good distance behind and were now watching with wary eyes.

"Eh? Buggy Pirates?" Luffy said, tilting his head. The opposing pirates sweat-dropped.

"Uh, no, that's someone else entirely. We're the Bug Pirates. You know. I'm Hornet because I sting, Gnat's annoying, Mosquito will bleed your wallet dry. Bug Pirates," the leader explained.

"Oh." Luffy tilted his head in the other direction and asked, "Why are you here?"

"What are you, stupid? You people didn't pay for 'protection' so the Marines won't lift a finger to stop us from taking whatever we want! And, unlike the Marines, we won't stop at a mere pittance either."

"Huh? Why would pirates work with Marines?" Luffy wondered, tilting his head in confusion. "I sure don't."

"Wait, you're a pirate?"

"He does look like he's kidnapping those two, Captain."

"Heh. No wonder he has a crowd following him. But what kind of pirate doesn't know about the ring? You'd have to be living under a rock not to know. You're a real idiot if you think you can make it in this sea without Marine-backing. If you're against them, they'll just take you out but, if you're with them, then even bounty hunters can become a mere annoyance. The prison's got a revolving door if you've got friends in the right places. Right, boys?"

"Aye!" roared the crew.

"Shit. They're part of that extortion ring Zoro and I kept running into," Kuina hissed low enough that only Luffy and Coby could hear her. "Zoro and I had to stop turning in live bounties because if we turned them in alive to the wrong Marines, they'd be back out on the sea within a week and aiming for our necks for 'inconveniencing' them."

"Alvida was part of the ring too. She was supposed to kill me because we couldn't pay the Marines but I was more useful to her alive, so she kidnapped me instead." Coby, unlike Kuina, didn't pitch his voice quite low enough to keep it from carrying entirely.

"Huh? Alvida? Wait. I've heard about you. You're Alvida's Compass, aren't you? I don't know how you got away from Alvida but you must really be worth something if this pirate kid's kidnapping you. Change in plan! We're taking the pink-haired kid in addition to every bit of loot we can find!"

"Aye, Captain!"

"As for you... the idiot with the scar! Hey! I'm talking to you! Quit ignoring me!"

Silent as a grave and his hat shadowing his eyes, Luffy carefully turned and gently set Kuina and Coby down before turning back towards Hornet and his crew and taking three steps forward so he was standing squarely between his crew and the Bug Pirates.

"Finally! You're an insubordinate lout, aren't you? But I'll be nice and let you join my crew, show you how real pirates work."

"Real pirates don't work with Marines, not like you are. The Pirate King doesn't obey anyone else," Luffy stated quietly. Hornet twitched before the Bug Pirates whooped with laughter.

"Pirate King?! You're an even bigger idiot than I thought and crazy to boot. If you're a pirate, you just need to join the ranks and you get food, money, medicine, and protection from the Marines. Doing it your way means taking out all the Marines in the East Blue just for a start!"

"Then I guess I'm taking out all the Marines in the East Blue," Luffy replied, "Right after I kick your ass for threatening Coby!"

"Heh. Ready, Bombardier?"

"Ready, Captain!" a man called from behind a cannon on the Bug Pirate's ship.

"Then light this place up!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Once, in multiple timelines, a group of pirates called the Bug Pirates formed in the East Blue. Their captain, Hornet, was known by the epithet 'Stinger' because he was fast with his sword. Well, fast for the East Blue, that was. His signature move was to stab his opponent repeatedly at speed. Hornet's most impressive accomplishment as captain, however, was recruiting Bombardier 'Beetle' Fass by offering the man a place with a group that would let him detonate explosives with impunity instead of chasing him away as the islanders of his home had done.

Bombardier adored explosives and everything to do with them, including chemistry, bombs, cannons and other artillery and he wore his epithet with pride as it had been bombardier beetles that had inspired him in the first place. When it came to the strength and amount of damage each individual member of the Bug Pirates was capable of, Bombardier had every single other member of the crew beat by at least a mile, Captain Hornet included. Everyone on the crew knew this, just as they also knew Bombardier had absolutely no leadership abilities nor interest in leading anyone as it would eat into his time creating and detonating ever more powerful explosives.

This, however, did cause a bit of a problem as both their name and the type of damage they caused was extremely similar to the pirate crew known as the Buggy Pirates. In a different time, people kept attributing the Bug Pirates' actions to the Buggy pirates, much to the Bug Pirates' collective ire. Seeking acknowledgment and validation for himself and his crew, Hornet had in that timeline made the executive decision to set sail for the Grand Line, only for the Bug Pirates to end up being the very first crew caught by Captain 'White Hunter' Smoker in Loguetown.

In _this_ time, the Bug Pirates had joined the East Blue Extortion Ring while the Buggy Pirates had not. This was a good deal for the Bug Pirates. In addition to much more regular access to money, food, and medicine, it also meant people had a reason to differentiate them from the Buggy Pirates. The end result was that the Bug Pirates were better known and feared than the Buggy Pirates in this timeline and they were just about to show why.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in a much quieter part of Orange Town, Zoro found himself glaring at a little dog that glared right back. He was certain he'd passed the dog and the pet store it was guarding five times now. It was also the only living thing he'd encountered thus far.

"Look, just point me in the right direction and I'll leave you the hell alone, okay?" Zoro said, flushing a little even as he was glad no one was around to see him asking for directions at all, much less from a mutt. A loud noise made him turn and frown and, when he glanced down at the dog, it was also looking in the same direction, ears perked up.

"Towards the noise, huh? Thanks." Then Zoro hurried off with a growing grin because it sounded like there was a fight in the making. Chances were, if his captain wasn't there, Fight Me was. Thus he did the type of crazy thing the Straw Hat Pirates would become known for; he ran towards the explosions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sashimono-jii is named after _sashimono-shi_ which is the Japanese name for furniture makers, Panya-san is named after _pan'yasan_ which is Japanese for 'baker', _nouka_ is Japanese for 'farmer', which is what Nouko is named after, and one of the meanings of Mitsu is 'honey'.
> 
> Bombardier is named after the bombardier beetle, which actually explodes.
> 
> As for the Marines, Kasa-sa gi means 'magpie', Nezumi means 'rat', and Itachi, of course, means 'weasel'.
> 
> Thank you so much for everyone who's reviewed, bookmarked, kudosed, favorited, or added this story to their subscriptions! You're the best!


	3. In Which There Is A Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took much longer than it had any right to because life. And my brain. Why did I commit myself to writing something with so many darn action scenes? Oh, right. Because I like reading them. But damn my mind for insisting on creating an OC crew that I had to come up with distinct fighting styles and punny attack names for. 
> 
> Thanks to The Patient One for looking this over

_**Chapter Three - In Which There Is A Fight** _

The boom was impressively loud, as was the destruction it caused. An entire building disappeared in an explosion of heat, light, sound, and debris, sending the gathered crowd screaming as they stampeded. No one was willing to be caught by a second round.

"Get that cannon ready again pronto," Hornet ordered even as he unsheathed his sword, a wide grin on his face from all the mayhem he'd already started to cause.

"Right!"

Then Hornet swung at Luffy, who hadn't budged at the explosion, only for a white sword to block his own.

"Mind if I take this one, Captain?" Kuina asked, eyes dark as she glared at the pirate in front of her.

"Nope!" Luffy assured her with a grin. "I'm going after the bomb guy."

"Right. Have fun!"

Luffy laughed and stretched out to grab onto the Bug Pirate's ship, bowling most of the crew over; Kuina hardly noticed as she kept her attention on her opponent, who gave her a once-over and scoffed.

"Captain? I could've sworn you were being kidnapped not a minute ago," Hornet stated as he disengaged from their mutual block and did a flashy little swing that made his sword glitter in the light. Kuina rolled her eyes at him.

"Hardly. Now are you going to fight me or not?"

"Hah! Against a girl playing pirate? This will be easy. But first," Hornet stated with a laugh before shouting at the men standing up or, in the case of the ones who'd been knocked into the water, pulling themselves back onto dry land, "What are you louts waiting for? Grab that kid!"

Coby, who had been standing there watching with wide eyes, screamed and took off running as the pirates gave chase. Kuina cursed and moved to defend him only for Hornet to block her way with his sword.

"Now, now, I thought you were fighting me. That's what you told your 'captain' after all," he taunted.

Kuina growled and disengaged so she could chance a look where the kid had been only to realize he and the men chasing him had disappeared somewhere into the town. Oh, well. They wanted him alive. She'd worry about him if they managed to drag him back. Even so, she was still curious, so turning back to face her opponent properly, she demanded, "Why the hell are you so interested in him, anyway?"

"You heard what I said earlier. If you want to get anywhere these days, you have to work with the Marines. And, for some reason, the Marines like working with that bitch Alvida. She's not even impressive and her men are a bunch of cowards too afraid to call her a fat hag to her face. Yet, when it comes to Marine favoritism, she's in the top ten in spite of my crew being larger and stronger.

"I ran into her once in a bar and got her drunk in hopes of finding out her secret. All she would tell me is that the pink-haired weakling she'd left several of her crew to guard on her ship was worth his weight in gold. Her compass, she called him. Now I don't care if the brat has any actual abilities or he's just some sort of good luck charm but if he could make someone as pathetic as Alvida rise in the ranks, imagine what he could do for a _real_ pirate crew."

"Oh, please. I've killed better pirates than you," Kuina stated before lunging. Hornet blocked her, their blades sliding against each other with a scream of steel and a spray of sparks.

"Killed? Who do you think you are? The Heathen?" Hornet spat.

"Well, what do you know? You got it right on the first guess," Kuina replied with a wicked grin as she shoved him back. Hornet glanced at her sword and cursed.

"Shit! What the hell are you doing working with a pirate?"

"Why shouldn't I? Especially since following him will give me the best chance at becoming the best there is."

She lunged forward at that point and their duel became a deadly dance down the length of the dock. He was a decent opponent, enough so that Kuina was toying around with him rather than ending the fight as fast as she could. It had been far too long since she'd gotten a decent fight from anyone other than Zoro. He managed to surprise her, however, when he dodged a blow and allowed her to scratch a mooring post with her blade as he ducked to the side.

"Sting!" Hornet cried as Kuina turned and proceeded to stab so rapidly it was impossible to see the point of his blade before it turned into an afterimage.

"Flow," Kuina whispered as she moved around Hornet's sword like a feather floating to the ground. Then she swung, tangling Wado Ichimonji with Hornet's blade and bringing him to a halt. Hornet's expression was a study of shock.

"What? But how? I'm the fastest there is!"

Kuina rolled her eyes.

"You're fast for the East Blue, I'll give you that, but I've been training to be fast enough for the Grand Line since I was a little girl. And even now, I know _I'm not fast enough_ ," she admitted, images of the speed Future Zoro had used flashing through her mind. Hornet wasn't above taking advantage of her momentary distraction, however.

"Hah! Bug Spray!"

Kuina yelped as Hornet lifted his free arm into her face and hit her dead-on in the eyes with a noxious, stinging spray, blinding her with pained tears.

"Of all the dirty, rotten, dishonorable—! Flow!" She bent backwards under the swing of Hornet's sword the instant she heard the whistle of it moving through the air. It damn near took her nose off. The same soft whistle allowed her to block the backswing but she could tell just from the feel alone that it wasn't the best block it could have or even should have been. The end result jarred her arm in a way it never should have against such a relatively weak opponent. Kuina hissed and blinked more rapidly, hoping to recover the vision in her still-stinging eyes even as she silently vowed to add blind training to her daily repertoire.

"Ow, ow, hot!"

That was her captain howling in pain. Kuina grit her teeth and swung at where she believed Hornet to be only to meet empty air. Off to her side, she heard her opponent call out, "Oi, what are you waiting for? Kill him already!"

"There you are," Kuina muttered as she turned and swung blindly at him again. Hornet turned her sword aside as if she were a beginning student and Kuina let out a frustrated cry as she felt Wado Ichimonji's tip dig into wood.

"Too easy," she could hear her opponent sneer even as she moved to pull Wado Ichimonji out of what had to be the dock. Before she could something rubbery and likely a limb based on its width slammed into her and knocked her belly first into the harbor.

Kuina surfaced with an outraged splutter only to pause when she realized that, thanks to the water, she could see again, albeit somewhat blearily, and that her meito was standing, point buried in the wood of the dock, awfully close to where the _dock was on fire_. Oh. Maybe she wouldn't be killing her captain, Kuina thought as Hornet surfaced several meters away and started berating his crewmember.

"Damn it, Bombardier! Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry, Captain!" a shout came back. Kuina heard her captain yell something at that point but had stopped paying attention in favor of getting her sword. She was back up on the edge of the dock, fire making her clothes steam uncomfortably, when she heard Hornet say, "Sting."

Kuina hit the ground to avoid being stabbed repeatedly in the back even as she yelled, "No proper swordsman attacks someone's back, you pusillanimous pig!"

"I'm a pirate, you wench! Why should I care about being proper?" Hornet spat back even as he swung down at her. Kuina rolled away and up to her feet, coming awfully close to the fire. Then she dodged another blow as she lunged for Wado Ichimonji, pulling it out of the wood it had been embedded in. She'd need to take a good, close look at it after this fight to make sure she hadn't accidentally damaged it. For now, though, she parried Hornet's next blow and forced his arms wide before shouting, "Star of Ishtar!"

She sliced the air so fast that the afterimage of a eight-point star was left behind right before Hornet went down with a cry and a gush of blood. She had just flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed it when the Bug Pirates’ ship went up in an explosion so powerful that it knocked her off her feet and actually blew out most of the fire on the dock.

"CAPTAIN!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Coby had been inundated with the feeling they were in big trouble well before Luffy had come to a halt by the docks. Something happening that was big enough to make Luffy _stop_ just made the feeling that much worse. By the time Luffy set him and Kuina down gently on the ground, Coby was trembling.

Why did these even pirates want him? The whole 'compass' thing had been an inside joke amongst Alvida and her men and now these men were acting like it made Coby special or something. He dreaded what would happen when they realized he wasn't.

That being said, Coby wasn't the least bit surprised about Luffy and Kuina picking a fight. He backed away so he'd be out of their way and couldn't quite stop the huff of amusement he felt at seeing Luffy accidentally knock some of the men into the water. Of course, then said men surfaced looking much like wet cats, namely drenched and angry at that fact.

"What are you louts waiting for? Grab that kid!"

Coby, having first been coddled by the elders who had raised him and later the captive of pirates, hadn't had a reason to learn to use a weapon at first and, once he did, wasn't allowed to touch one. He'd only had one very short training session with Zoro and Kuina under his belt at this point. So suddenly facing a group of angry men with weapons while he had neither weapons nor training in how to defend himself, Coby did the only thing he could do: he screamed and ran.

The buildings offered some protection by bottlenecking the men following him while objects on the streets themselves helped provide some cover when one stupid but enterprising individual decided to take pot shots at Coby with a pistol.

"We need the kid alive, you idiot!"

"Then I'll just shoot him in the leg," the shooter replied, making Coby yelp as he took a sharp turn just in time to avoid being shot. He kept running, twisting through streets and alleyways, breath coming in short, sharp pants. He couldn't keep this up for long, he knew - he wasn't in that great of shape - which meant that sooner or later, he would be caught. No. He wouldn't be caught. Coby clenched his teeth, air hissing past them as he continued to run. He'd be damned before he let himself be kidnapped by pirates like Alvida ever again.

Someone on the Bug Pirate crew had some brains, however, as Coby found out when he made another turn only to find pirates waiting on the other end of the street he'd turned onto. With more pirates following behind, Coby darted into the lone alley that went behind what had to be a bar or ale house based on the smell and the cart full of barrels at the other end of the alley. Dodging the hitching block that kept the cart and barrels from tipping and squeezing past half of the side of the cart as the other half was in the open road, Coby made it out into the next street. That's where he came to a breathless halt.

'Definitely someone smart on this crew,' Coby thought in dismay as he took in all the pirates blocking either end of this road as well. There was another alleyway across from him but it looked like it ended in a wall and thus a dead end. There might have been a T-junction at said wall but the likelihood the pirates had cut that off as well was really high. Still, Coby decided to take that risk. Better to keep going and take his chances, maybe even find a way to climb to a roof, than to stand there waiting for the pirates to capture him.

It was just a momentary pause as he took in his situation and made his decision but it was a moment too long. A whip cracked right as Coby took off running for the next alley and he yelped as his leg was jerked out from under him. Road burn made his hands sting and the knee he'd landed on throb even as he tried to shake the leg being pulled on free.

By the time he managed to get the whip loose and scrambled back to his feet, Coby was surrounded. Coby dodged the grasping hands of one of the men but that just brought him into reach of some of the others. They snatched him and, no matter how he fought and flailed, he couldn't get the hands off as fast as they were grabbing him.

"No! Let me go!" he cried as he tried to twist free, the only thought in his mind being that he would rather die than be put back in the same situation he'd been in with Alvida.

" _Oni Giri._ "

There were screams of pain and several of the men let Coby go. Coby paused mentally, partly out of relief and partly because, having gotten so used to hearing Standard from first Alvida and then Luffy, his brain had incredulously wondered if Zoro had really named his attack 'Rice Ball'. It wasn't until Zoro repeated it to clear away the rest of the men holding Coby captive that Coby was able to successfully translate the technique's name as 'Demon Slash'. By that point, Zoro had shoved Coby towards the cart, no doubt to have something solid at his back while protecting Coby from the pirates, and much too late for Coby to tell him that was the direction Coby had run _from_.

"Zoro, behind you!" Coby warned even as he ducked and crawled under the cart to escape the men coming from the alley. He heard Zoro curse before taking out the nearest men.

"Tch, these guys are like flies," Coby heard Zoro mutter. He could see why the swordsman would think that. While Zoro was strong enough to swat down multiple men with a single hit, every single man was quickly replaced by a new pirate. Add in the fact Zoro was protecting Coby and couldn't exactly move away from where Coby was, thus forcibly limiting his movements, and well, Coby could understand the growing expression of frustration on the swordsman's face.

Coby, hidden halfway under the cart as he was, was frustrated as well, mostly at his own self. Zoro was protecting him and all he was doing was cowering and hiding.

Determination starting to fill him, Coby looked around for a way he could help. Seeing a sword on the ground left by one of the fallen pulled back by his comrades, Coby crawled forward and reached for it, only to jerk back when Zoro barked, "Leave it!"

"What? But if I have a weapon—"

"Unless you know how to use it, you're more likely to hurt yourself than them. Leave it. Just do what Luffy does and stick to hands and feet," Zoro insisted before doing a sweeping move that had to have taken at least ten men off their feet, giving them a hair more breathing room before the gaps started to fill again.

"B-But I'm not as strong as Luffy!" Coby argued back.

"You don't need to be. You just need to be better than your opponent. Oni Giri!"

Coby blinked at the hearing the pun again before arguing during the quick breather Zoro's actions bought them.

"But even using just that, I don't think I'm strong enough to take out even these guys!"

"I didn't say stronger, just better. You're smart, right? Use it and come up with a way to take these guys out!"

"R-Right!"

Smarter. Smarter. What could take out a large number of people quickly, preferably without killing them? What would Migo do? Oh, who was he kidding? Migo would never be in this situation to begin with since it would mean they'd been caught. But he and Zoro were and needed a way out.

Coby slammed an injured hand against the cart and hissed in pain because that had been a stupid thing to do. Stupid cart filled with barrels. Wait a minute. Hadn't he been running down an incline to get to this point? And running a group of guys over with barrels on a slope was a pretty standard comic book move. He was pretty certain Sora had pulled it off against Germa 66 at least twice.

Seeing that the side of the cart closest to the wall was the safest place to crawl out from, Coby popped out from under the cart and scrambled up the side before any of the pirates could reach him. Multiple barrels stacked on their sides and ready to send rolling greeted Coby's eyes and he quickly placed himself so his back was braced against the front of the cart even as he shoved against the closest barrel with his feet. The cart rocked under him but Coby was also aware of the Bug Pirates in the alley attempting to climb up to Coby despite Zoro's attempts to get them to stop.

Desperate and determined to make this work, Coby shoved with his feet again and again, the cart rocking each time. There was a scraping sound and then the hitch came free from its post. Coby realized the cart was moving about the same time Zoro did and that was because it ran Zoro over.

"Zoro!" Coby cried in alarm, having seen Zoro go down. He leaned over the edge of the cart to try and see his fallen comrade as the cart rolled over the top of him and was rewarded with the sight of a Bug Pirate's face right in his as the guy climbed the side of the now rolling cart.

Coby yelped and jerked back before kicking the guy in the face. The man disappeared even as Coby backed to the other side of the cart only for a burly pirate who'd climbed that side to wrap an arm around Coby's shoulders. Coby twisted to kick him in the face as well but all that achieved was bloodying the guy's nose and ticking him off.

"You little brat! If the captain didn't want you alive, I'd—"

"You'd what?"

The low, dangerous tone as well as the sword pointed at the man's left eye made both Coby and the pirate look up to see Zoro somehow standing on top of the barrels of the moving cart, sword held steadily at Coby's assailant.

"H-Hey, now. No need for that," the big Bug Pirate stated nervously even as the arm around Coby's shoulders tightened. "Captain just wants the kid, that's all. Alive and unharmed and all that, even. So if you just let me take the kid—"

"Why the hell should I?" Zoro demanded, eyes narrowing under his bandana and making him look even more threatening. "Why do you even want him?"

"Captain's orders! He's Alvida's Compass," the man squeaked. Zoro crouched, sword still extremely close to the Bug Pirate's left eye.

"I think you're going to let Coby go and you're going to jump off of this cart."

"Or what?" the pirate asked nervously.

" _Or I'll make you._ "

The Bug Pirate let out another squeak before doing exactly as requested. Zoro watched him tumble behind them as he sheathed the lone sword he'd had out.

"Thank you!" Coby breathed, relieved.

"Yeah, yeah. What's the big deal about you being some lady's compass?"

"Alvida's no lady. And I, uh, may have purposely navigated them into dangerous situations in hopes of escaping but it never panned out? It always seemed like we came up right when everyone else had finished and Alvida would sweep in and take out any survivors," Coby admitted, rubbing his head.

"Huh. Ooh! Sake!"

Coby watched as Zoro finally realized exactly what the barrels they were on top of contained before remembering exactly how the cart had been positioned when it started rolling. Shouldn't they have hit a wall by now? Instead, much to Coby's surprise and consternation, they seemed to be cresting a hill on a huge thoroughfare. How?

Then they finished cresting the hill and Coby realized exactly how steep the way down was.

"Zoro?"

"What?"

"Do you have any way of stopping this thing?"

"Uh, no. Why?"

Coby pointed and Zoro's eyes widened right before the cart plunged down the hill and towards the waiting crowd of pirates, who looked just as alarmed by what they were seeing as Coby felt.

Coby swore the cart managed to cross the main thoroughfare multiple times, crushing more Bug Pirates each time, despite Coby being willing to swear the cart never turned, which made absolutely no sense. Sadly, Coby was coming to expect that from this crew, so he decided to ignore it in favor of clinging to the cart for dear life while screaming his head off.

"Will you shut up?" Zoro demanded with an irritated look in Coby's direction.

"We're going to die!" Coby wailed because surely Zoro could see that by this point.

"Like hell we are!"

"But there are no brakes! It's a miracle we haven't run into anything other than the pirates yet!"

"Doesn't matter. There's no way I'm going to let anything happen to this booze," Zoro said, patting a barrel of sake.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!" Coby demanded, smacking Zoro upside the head only to let out a quiet, "Eep!" when Zoro turned and glared at him.

The cart hit a bump then, or possibly another pirate. It wasn't enough to stop or upset the cart but it jostled them enough to realize that maybe they should keep a closer eye on where they were heading.

"Zoro," Coby said, tone small and frightened.

"Shit," Zoro replied.

The docks were rapidly approaching and they were headed right for the Bug Pirates' ship. Unless they could somehow get the cart to turn or stop, they were going to collide head-on.

"Brakes! Brakes brakes brakes! We need brakes!" Coby chanted as he feverishly looked for something that could stop them. Then he yelped when Zoro grabbed him and threw them both out of the cart.

Coby lost his breath yet again and added more bruises to his already impressive collection. He quickly sat up but flinched and stared in consternation when the cart hit the ship with a rather large explosion.

"Damn, there must have been some hanazake in that for it burn so well."

Zoro sounded so mournful when he said that, that Coby couldn't help but turn and give him an incredulous look. Then they heard Kuina's voice scream out.

"CAPTAIN!"

"Shit, what?"

"LUFFY!" Coby screamed as he forced himself to stand and run towards the burning ship. His friend needed him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

These guys were really starting to piss Luffy off. They'd threatened to do the same thing to Coby that Alvida had and Alvida had tried to take away Coby's _dream_. Then they'd destroyed a building and, while the explosion was actually pretty cool in Luffy's opinion, it had scared the townspeople and reminded Luffy of when Bluejam destroyed Gray Terminal.

People weren't supposed to be _afraid_ of pirates. If they didn't _like_ pirates, that was okay. Not everyone did. But they were supposed to chase pirates around like they had been to him and Coby and Kuina, not run away screaming because they were scared. And then the bastard in front of Luffy had had the utter gall (as Sabo had once been fond of saying) to claim he was a pirate who worked with the Marines.

Pirates didn't work with the Marines, not the way these people were talking about. When he'd been little, Luffy and his brothers had talked about the Shichibukai, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and how they thought they were stupid for curtailing their freedom even a little to work with the World Government. They'd also talked about 'enemy mine' situations where you had to work with people you didn't like to achieve something more, like working with the shitty gramps to hunt for food, but that was always temporary.

What these guys were talking about sounded a lot less like working with Gramps for dinner and more like they were wannabe Shichibukai. In other words, they'd looked freedom in the face and then spat at it. And Luffy _hated_ people like that.

Kuina had stopped the guy who'd done most of the talking from swinging his sword at Luffy and then asked if she could fight the guy. Luffy was more interested in taking out the guy who'd destroyed the building and upset all the townspeople and he didn't particularly want to keep listening to the guy talk, so Luffy had said okay before turning towards the ship with a wild grin.

Luffy laughed as he stretched and grabbed onto the Bug Pirates' ship, startling the opposing pirate crew enough that they didn't think to move out of the way before he bowled most of them over the edge of the pier before snapping back into shape midair. Once up there, he shifted to try and aim himself at the Bomb-guy.

The guy the talky guy had called Bombardier was fairly big, almost the size of the ax-handed guy, but fatter. His head was rather small for his body and his facial hair curved out from the sides of his head like the mandibles of the beetles Luffy liked to catch. Luffy was going to have fun catching this one. He'd be pretty hard to miss, after all.

"Oi! Bomb-guy!" Luffy called out as he flung himself at the man. He slammed into Bombardier right before he could finish lighting the cannon a second time. Bombardier flew back with a look that was part surprised, part scandalized and he clutched at his collar the way the old ladies of High Town had clutched at their pearls at the sight of Luffy and his brothers. He hit the deck but immediately popped right back up and pointed at Luffy, an irate expression on his small face.

"YOU! You just stopped my bomb from _becoming_."

"What? It just didn't explode, is all," Luffy pointed out, picking his nose because that dried-out booger was bothering him.

"The entire purpose of a bomb is to explode! A bomb is a beautiful explosion of fire, heat, and light designed to destroy everything in it's path! If it doesn't explode, is it ever really a bomb?"

"Yes?" Luffy hesitantly replied. He hadn't been expecting philosophical questions in this fight.

"Wrong! If it doesn't explode, it's nothing! Just a mess of- of parts and chemicals! Now get out of my way so I can make this town go up in flames!"

"What makes you think I'm going to let you fire on this town and my nakama again?" Luffy demanded, eyes narrowing as he frowned at the Bomb-guy.

"Because I'll kill you if you get in my way," his opponent replied, eyes wild and grin less than sane. Luffy smiled sharply back at him. Oh, this was going to be fun!

Bombardier charged, fist pulled back in obvious preparation for a punch. Luffy easily dodged, almost feeling disappointed until Bombardier's heavily gloved fist hit the cabin wall in a controlled explosion.

"So cool!" Luffy enthused. Could he do something like that with his punches? Probably not without wearing those ugly gloves.

"Precisely! Explosions are amazing and I won't let you stop me from causing as many as I want!"

"I don't care what you do as long as you don't hurt my friends," Luffy said before dodging two more punches by leaping up in order to bring his leg down hard.

"Gomu Gomu no Axe!"

Bombardier moved to intercept with his explosive glove and they were both blown away from each other, hitting the deck.

Luffy hissed as he leapt up, blowing on his burnt leg as he hopped around on one foot.

"Rubber rubber?" Bombardier thought out loud as he sat up. "You do seem to have rubber-like qualities and your skin doesn't burn as fast as most people's. It might be very useful in those incendiaries I've been working on."

"Eh?" Luffy said, blinking at Bomb-guy in confusion, still standing on one foot.

"I'm going to skin you and turn you into a bomb," Bombardier clarified.

"EH? No way!" Luffy declared as he threw his arms out to the side in the 'time-out' gesture he'd seen quite often as a child.

"You're not going to stop me."

Luffy glowered. Oh, that was it. It didn't matter that Bomb-guy had cool beetle hair or awesome explosions. Luffy didn't like him _at all_.

The fight quickly turned vicious. Luffy hit the guy with a Gomu Gomu no Pistol but got his arm badly cut when Bombardier pulled a knife. After pausing a moment, Bombardier to get his breath back and Luffy to inspect his cut, Bombardier pulled out a weird gun that shot a tiny bomb in the form of a grenade at Luffy. Luffy managed to dodge the first two that set the top of the deck on fire but got badly singed by the third as it sent him flying into the railing at the side of the ship closest to the dock.

"Ow, ow, hot!" Luffy complained as he rolled on the deck

"Oi, what are you waiting for? Kill him already!" a voice called from down below.

"Right. Let's get this over with."

Bombardier aimed at Luffy with his grenade launcher yet again and fired. Luffy dodged but then realized as it sailed past that the small explosive was going to land on the dock right where Kuina was fighting her opponent. Stretching out a leg, he managed to sweep Kuina out of the way but accidentally knocked her opponent off the dock as well. They both hit the water right about the same time the bomb went off and Luffy yelped again as his leg, still snapping back, got burned in the explosion. In fact, his shorts were kind of on fire.

"Hot!" Luffy cried as he rolled on the deck to put out the fire. Then he had to flip back up onto his feet in order to dodge another explosive punch from the bomb-guy.

"Damn it, Bombardier! Are you trying to kill me?" the talky-guy demanded from below.

"Sorry, Captain!" Bombardier shouted back.

"What?! You're not the Captain?!" Luffy shouted, jaw dropping. Bombardier paused.

"Uh, no? That woman under you is fighting the Captain."

"Oh! That's why she asked if she could fight him!" Luffy replied, smacking his fist against his palm. "That's okay, then!"

"Right," Bombardier agreed even as a sweat-drop formed. Then he shook himself and turned serious.

They faced off, Bombardier with his weapons, Luffy with his feet and fists at the ready. The wind blew dramatically in an effort to take part in the scene as they both shifted, ready to lunge at each other.

Only for Bombardier's eyes to widen in what looked like alarm right before the world suddenly exploded into flames.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"CAPTAIN!"

"LUFFY!"

Luffy jerked out of unconsciousness. They needed him.

He'd promised that day to Ace that he'd grow stronger, strong enough to prevent what had happened to Sabo from happening to anyone else he cared about. And if he wasn't strong enough to protect anyone then at least he'd die trying.

It wasn't like he feared death, not when he already had a beloved brother waiting to keep him company on the other side. A part of him actually looked forward to the day he'd get to tell Sabo about all of his adventures, the adventures that Sabo had never had the chance to have.

But Luffy didn't plan on dying yet. His nakama needed him.

Stumbling upright, he coughed and tried to see a way out. All he saw were wooden walls, indicating he'd fallen through the upper deck, and lots of smoke with the crackle of fire along one wall. All right. If there was no way out, he'd just have to make one. Cracking his knuckles, Luffy turned towards the nearest wall he could see that wasn't on fire.

"Gomu Gomu no...," he intoned lowly as he pulled his arm back with a twisting motion before letting it fly. "RIFLE!"

The wall _shattered_ as did the one behind it. After that was air, which the fire behind Luffy obviously enjoyed as it was suddenly licking his heels as it rushed for the opening Luffy had just made. Yelping, Luffy ran for the new exit, only for a large form to barrel into him from the side about halfway there.

"YOU! All of my designs, my projects, gone because of _you_!" Bombardier railed even as he did his best to damage Luffy.

Luffy let out a wordless yell and kicked the man off of him hard enough to send him slamming through a wall. Luffy quickly jumped to his feet only for the wood above to let out a warning creak before the ceiling caved in, blocking the exit Luffy had made not a minute earlier. Dust and smoke blinding him, Luffy coughed and waved a hand as he turned, trying to find a different way out.

This was starting to remind Luffy way too much of the fire at Grey Terminal but it sounded like his nakama's shouting was coming from outside and they were worried about him, so priority one was getting out and reassuring them followed by beating this guy's ass. Then again, maybe it should be the other way around, Luffy decided as the bomb-bug-guy turned up again.

Bombardier roared as he tugged his bomb-shooting weapon out of the debris and fired it at Luffy. Luffy kicked a broken beam in the way of the grenade, forcing the grenade to detonate early. Bombardier cursed even as Luffy took advantage of his new cover. He came out of the smoke cloud with his head tilted towards his arms, which were crossed protectively in front of his face, and his knees tucked in close. A smirk was visible on Luffy's face as he landed and ran towards his opponent, both arms stretching behind him.

Bombardier cursed and tossed the grenade launcher aside as Luffy drew too close for it to be safe for him to use and instead curled his gloved fists in preparation. He roared as he swung but Luffy had already started to snap his arms forward.

" _Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!_ "

Bombardier crashed through the wall, which was apparently the hull, and skipped along the surface of the water out of sight. Luffy grinned at the sight for only a small moment before he was stumbling to stay upright as the burning ship started to sink at a steep angle. Right. Time to leave.

Luffy reached for the edge of the hole to rocket himself out, intending to find something to grab once he was out in the air. The first part of his plan went without a hitch as he was soon in the air outside of the ship by the end of the docks.

"LUFFY!"

"CAPTAIN!"

Hearing his crew, Luffy turned and waved at them to reassure them he was fine.

"YOU IDIOT!" he heard them roar right before he hit the water.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Coby was in the water before Zoro or Kuina could get their boots off and he swam as fast as he could towards the form he could see rapidly sinking thanks to the fiery light of the sinking Bug Pirates' ship.

Swimming wasn't something Coby had really ever thought about. It was just something he could do. It had never occurred to him that he was good at it and it didn't now even as he reached the sinking body just as the last flickering flames of the nearby ship went out as it sunk.

Dragging Luffy with him as Coby avoided the debris around them, Coby swam for the surface and broke into the air with a gasp, Luffy coughing in his grip.

"You idiot!" Coby railed, wanting to shake Luffy but not being able to do so as he was still dragging their rears towards the end of the pier where both Zoro and Kuina were both now stationed. "Why didn't you grab something instead of hitting the water! You know you can't swim!"

"Eh? But I'm fine. I had Coby to save me!" Luffy cheerfully stated as they came up to where the others were.

Coby froze for a moment and it was just as well Zoro and Kuina were already reaching to pull them out of the water because he forgot to keep kicking as Luffy's words struck him. He lay there on the dock for a moment as Zoro and Kuina laid into Luffy for being reckless, a warm feeling growing in his chest.

Sure, the Bug Pirates had been after Coby to the point Zoro had to protect him but, in the end, Coby was the one who saved Luffy. Maybe... maybe his dream wasn't nearly as impossible as he sometimes (often) thought. Maybe he could save the world, one person at a time.

"Well, now that we're all together again... wait. Zoro! How did you find the kid?" Kuina asked.

"Simple. I heard the explosions and followed them."

"Um, I was the only one who wasn't actually by the explosions," Coby pointed out, confused, as he finally stood. Zoro twitched.

"You got lost again, didn't you?" Kuina jeered with a grin.

"Sh-Shut up! At least I know the names of my crewmates!"

Kuina went red and spluttered which made Coby pause in turn. Come to think of it, she always called him Kid, didn't she? And she called Luffy Captain.

"Of course I know their names!"

"Oh, really?" Zoro drawled, a sharp smile growing on his lips. "Then why haven't I heard you call them by their names?"

"He's right. I haven't heard you use my name at all," Coby mused.

"It- It's Cody and Rudy, right? No, wait, Captain's name had an 'f' in it. Ruffy?"

"My name's Coby," Coby corrected with a frown even as Luffy burst into peals of delighted laughter. He only stopped laughing when Kuina smacked him in the head but even then he didn't stop grinning.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you!"

"Right, likewise," Kuina muttered, red with embarrassment. She then turned to the rather smug-looking Zoro and hissed, "At least my problem can be fixed! You still got lost."

"You fight like a married couple," Coby muttered without thinking before flinching back at the evil looks they both gave him.

" _Excuse me?_ You did not just imply that! I am _not_ his _wife_!" Kuina raged. "If anything, _he's my wife_."

"OI!" Zoro protested.

"Wait. That came out wrong."

Any further attempts at digging herself out or deeper were halted when a man ran up to him followed by a little white dog.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the man with poofy, poodle-like hair enthused as he grabbed Luffy's hand and shook it vigorously. Luffy blinked at him blankly, not shaking back but not bothering to remove his hand from the man's grip either.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Oh! Pardon me! I'm Orange Town's mayor, Boodle!" the man replied, letting go of Luffy's hand to give them all a polite bow.

Coby was certain he saw the moment Luffy forgot the man's name. To be fair, Coby was willing to give Luffy points for remembering at all, even if it was only for a few seconds, considering Kuina had muttered, "Did he just say 'poodle'?"

"'kay. What do you want?" Luffy wondered as he picked his nose. Boodle didn't seem to know how to respond as he started before finally finding his voice.

"Well, I should be asking you that, considering you saved us. You're heroes!"

Luffy, who had started to look eager at the beginning of Boodle's speech, went bug-eyed at the word 'heroes' and Zoro was right there with him.

"What?! Don't you know what a hero is? If a hero has a bunch of meat/sake, they would share it but I want all of the meat/sake for myself!" Zoro and Luffy yelled in unison, albeit with Luffy being the one concerned about meat and Zoro the one focused on sake. Boodle sweat-dropped while Kuina face-palmed and muttered something about idiots.

"Is that really how you define a hero?" Coby wondered with a frown before sighing and letting it go. It was rather obvious he would never understand how those two thought so better to be concerned about the things they wouldn't think about.

"Do you happen to have a ship we could use, preferably for long-term sailing, and navigation tools?" Coby asked.

"Right, those would be useful."

"Oh." Boodle looked thoughtful. "The navigation tools should be easy enough but as for a boat... anyone with anything more than a basic fishing boat fled when the Marines gave us their ultimatum when we couldn't afford their 'protection' any more." Boodle's face twisted into a moue of disgust before he admitted, "As is, we're probably going to have to find a way to get rid of those pirates because the only place big enough to lock them up in is the cellar of the Drinker's Pub and that's a short-term solution at best."

Kuina snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, you should call that one guy. What's his name? Zoro, who's that Marine Commodore with the silly ribbon hair?"

"Purin Purin."

"Wait, seriously?" Kuina asked incredulously.

"Yep," Zoro confirmed.

"Who the hell names their kid that? Ignoring that for now, he's an over-confident bastard who will probably take credit for the Bug Pirates' capture but he was one of the only Marines Zoro and I could turn in a bounty to and not have them walk right back out after us. I've heard good things about the new guy in Loguetown too but can't vouch for him. Everyone else who's halfway decent is probably too far for you to reach by den den mushi or fishing boat."

"We'll certainly look into it. If he's a commodore, though, he'll probably be too busy to help protect us from the next batch of pirates to attack now that we no longer have 'protection'. We'll have to take a page from the books the Gecko and Conomi Islands have been following and find a way to protect ourselves."

"Oh? What's that?" Luffy asked, having gone from bored and poking at the dog to looking intrigued.

"The Gecko and Conomi Islands? The Gecko Islands are fairly close to us and have been making a name for themselves thanks to Syrup Village becoming a bit of a medical mecca, what with the wondrous medicine they produce. They've recently built a teaching hospital that's started producing some very excellent doctors. We have merchants that head there fairly often but they also trade with Conomi Island, which is why we know about them as well.

"At any rate, the people of Syrup Village are very free-handed with their medical care in that if you're sick or injured when you show up, they'll take care of you no questions asked, civilian, pirate, or Marine. They'll want paying afterwards, of course, but they're flexible on that as well. You might just have to run a few errands, for example. People who cut and run on their bills quickly find they no longer have access to the island or its medicine.

"In fact, the Bug Pirates must have done such a thing since they were demanding medical supplies. That or they were planning on selling it to people who had."

"How would they prevent anyone from just taking over the island?" Zoro asked.

"Well, Gecko is fairly inaccessible naturally. Lots of cliffs and rocky shoals. There's only two real access points and they have a constant watch set. Ostensibly it's so people can get immediate access to any emergency care they might need but it also doubles as a way to keep an eye on whoever sets foot on the island. If they're not welcomed, they quickly find themselves afoul of the local militia which is led by a man rumored to be capable of sniping the wings off a fly at two hundred meters. I don't know if he's actually capable of such a feat but I've talked to a few merchants who've met the man. They said he was younger than he was expecting but he really is an amazing shot - with a slingshot, no less!

"As for Conomi, well, I've heard it's a lot more accessible, with more than one village and lots of farmland. But they make up for it by having a weather witch."

"A witch?" Luffy, Coby, Zoro, and Kuina all echoed. Boodle shrugged.

"It's just a rumor, really but, by all accounts, any time pirates try attacking the island, they get hit by lightning in a sudden thunderstorm or blown back by a hurricane or a whirlpool forms underneath them. Things like that."

"Cool!" Luffy enthused, eyes sparkling. Having seen something similar when Coby had mentioned the Demons of the East Blue, Coby resigned himself to Luffy insisting on recruiting these dangerous-sounding people.

"Sounds interesting," Zoro conceded.

"Does this navigation equipment you've promised us include a map?" Kuina suggested, expression edging towards dangerous. Boodle gulped but nodded.

"Yes, of course! Just wait here!"

He ran off, leaving the dog behind. The next few minutes involved Luffy poking the dog, the dog biting Luffy and refusing to let go, and the rest of them watching with various expressions ranging from amusement to resignation. Luffy had finally gotten the dog off when Boodle showed back up, promised items in hand.

Luffy then refused to leave without food which was actually a good thing and Coby couldn't believe he'd forgotten about food and water supplies.

By the time everyone was fed, watered, and resupplied, it was growing late as the people Orange Town waved them off. Luffy enthusiastically waved back, Zoro's grip on the back of his vest the only thing keeping him from falling out of the boat as Coby fumbled with the map only to realize he wasn't sure where to set their course.

"Wait, where are we going?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear the guy with funny hair! There's a really cool witch and an awesome sniper out there!" Luffy stated, his excitement making their small boat rock.

"A sniper and a weather witch?" Kuina muttered with a frown.

"So cool!" Luffy exclaimed, stars in his eyes. "Yosh! Let's go recruit them!" The others exchanged looks, smiles growing on their faces.

"Aye!"

"Th- the closest would be Syrup Village on the Gecko Islands. Should we start there?" Coby asked as he looked at the map.

"Yosh! Let's go to the yummy island!" Luffy agreed, pointing towards the setting sun. Coby nodded but he was aware of Kuina and Zoro exchanging looks before Kuina shrugged. Something was definitely going on with those two and Coby was determined to figure out what.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Those damn guys are pushing us regular flashy pirates out of the East Blue," Buggy grumbled as he fiddled with the map to the entrance of the Grand Line. Then he shrugged. "Whelp, if we're going to flashily leave this sea, we might as well go out taking on the few places those guys won't. Set the course for Gecko Island."

"Are you sure, boss?"

"Of course I'm sure! Now do it!" Buggy screamed before grinning a wide, deranged-looking grin. "Let's leave this place with a flashy bang!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I must say, that Devil Fruit suits you, Lady Alvida."

"It really does, doesn't it?" Alvida mused as she settled into the chair her companion pulled out for her. "And to think I would never have found it if it hadn't been for that brat sending me flying."

"Yes, about that... I must admit I don't like the idea of another man setting hands on you, especially in such a violent manner."

"Mm," Alvida hummed noncommittally before saying, "I'm more concerned about how quickly he turned Coby against me. I was certain that runt was too broken to fight back, especially after all of your 'training'."

"I never trusted that little rat and I've never understood your fondness for him but, if you desire your pet back, I'd be happy to fetch him for you," Alvida's companion stated as he took her impossibly smooth hand and kissed the back of it before she slipped it free with a flirty smile.

"Why, Captain Impisi, I do believe you're speaking my language. I don't suppose you'd be willing to retrain him for me as well?"

"And now you're speaking my language, my Lady. Whuhuhuhu!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Leagues away and hours later, a couple of Marines stationed on the night shift at the base in Loguetown were debating on whether or not it was worth it to wake up Captain Smoker or Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi as they stared at a note bearing the infamous Eye of Migo. The reason there was a debate at all was because the drawing was extremely crude and the three men they'd found it on were very obviously drunk.

All three men were now lined up on the bench in the holding cell they used for disorderly drunks. The one in the weird hood was rocking back and forth as he hummed a popular drinking song. The other two had hats although the more sober of those two had taken his off even as he gave his jailers a winning, if not exactly sober, grin. The other man, the one still wearing his hat, looked about to pass out and was leaning heavily on the one rocking back and forth.

"How can I helps youse gentleman?" the most sober - relatively - of the trio asked with a slurred voice.

"You can start by explaining this," Seaman First Class Bones insisted, waving the note in the man's face. The man went cross-eyed before focusing on the Eye of Migo at the bottom of the page.

"Oh. That. Bit of a fart."

"Farce," the one that was falling asleep corrected as he shifted so he was laying against the side of the speaker.

"Right, farce. Everyone's knowing that the merchant on High Street hired out _The Dandy's Dream_ and everyone's knowing those poor men ain't coming back."

"Fire, flood, act of piracy," the nearly unconscious one intoned softly while the one humming switched to a sad song.

"And everyone who runs a ship knows ta sign one of them waiver deals so their kids and widows get something if they's dead. Not doing that's like counting your eggs before setting down the basket."

"I think you mean counting your eggs before they've hatched," Seaman Apprentice Noah suggested.

"Right," the man agreed before continuing. "Anyways, that merchant's denying he hired _The Dandy's Dream_ when everyone knows he did so he doesn't have ta pay those poor widows an' orphans. We was hoping to maybe shake him up inta doing right by them orphans and widows that are falling through the loops. Considering we're here, I'm assuming that went over like a lead brick."

Seaman First Class Bones opened his mouth before deciding to let the malaphors slide. Instead he gave a sharp shake of his head before clearing his throat.

"So this is just you playing copycat then?" he asked.

"Since when did cats copy anything?" the man asked with a confused grin. The one lying against his side snorted and cuddled closer to his buddy.

Seaman First Class Bones and Seaman Apprentice Noah exchanged looks before Bones sighed.

"Look, we're going to keep you in here overnight. Once you've sobered up, we'll go from there."

"M'kay," the guy agreed as he leaned back, his buddy toppling with him. The third slid down, still humming.

"You sure about this?" Noah asked as they left the three alone.

"What are they going to do when locked up? Besides, this way the Captain can deal with them in the morning."

Only it turned out come morning they had bigger problems than a couple of drunk would-be vigilantes.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Smoker was chewing furiously on his first cigars of the morning. They wouldn't be lasting much longer with the way he was chomping on them.

"Let me get this straight," he growled, making Bones gulp. "You think these three men, who have been in the holding cell _all night long_ , have something to do with the very real visit from Migo that's affecting Mr. Ruthers of High Street right now?"

"Um, well, when you put it like that..." Bones trailed off nervously before adding, "I did show you the note they made, right?"

Smoker waved him off.

"A poor copy made by a bunch of drunks who didn't even get the chance to hand it over to Mr. Ruthers before you gentlemen brought them in. And they're right. _Everyone_ knew about _The Dandy's Dream_. If I'd had the proof of hire that's currently hanging in the town square earlier, I would've brought in Mr. Ruthers myself. As is, we look like fools more worried over a couple of drunks than over the real threat. Let them out."

"Sir?"

"They've sobered up, haven't they? Let them out, give them a warning, and send them on their way. We've got bigger fish to fry, starting with Mr. Ruthers and ending with the _real_ Migo."

"Yes, sir!" Bones saluted, shot Noah a wary look, and went to let the three much more sober sailors out of the lock-up.

"Eurgh. Remind me never to drink so much ever again," the man who'd done most of the speaking last night insisted.

"Never drink so much ever again," the man in the hood, who'd spent the night humming in his sleep, croaked out.

"I don't know what you're complaining about. I feel great!" the cuddler declared, standing straight in the middle of the cell with a broad grin. The other two glared at him.

"Hate you so much right now."

"Congrats. We're letting you go," Noah announced as he and Bones approached the cell.

"Really? Just like that?"

"As my Captain pointed out, you lot didn't actually manage to do anything," Bones admitted, looking pained. "Just do everyone a favor and avoid drinking so heavily, okay?"

"Will do, Boss!"

"Thank you!"

"Have a nice day!"

"You don't think..." Noah started after they left before trailing off. Bones overheard.

"What? That they're the ones who did it? They were locked up when it went down, as Captain Smoker just told you."

"Not that, sir," Noah replied, shaking his head, before explaining, "Just... what if they _did_ summon Migo?"

They'd made it back to the others by this point and apparently Smoker overheard as they found out when they turned in the direction of a snort of disgust.

"You think Migo is some sort of ghost?" Smoker replied with a shake of his head. "No, it was a flesh-and-blood person who wrote that note and I aim to find out who."

And so the Captain and his men got to work, unaware that their best lead had waltzed right out their door and right to the docks.

~*~*~*~*~*~

A fourth man was waiting at the docks for the other three, smoking what looked to the be the most recent in a series of cigarettes considering the number of spent ends in the ashtray by his elbow.

"Those are going to kill you," the cuddler complained as the trio climbed aboard. The smoker scoffed.

"Like the amount of alcohol you lot consumed last night didn't affect your livers. You have your vices, leave me mine."

"Fair enough. Did our distraction help you do more than get that bastard put away?"

"Oh, yes. I've got half the plans we need and a lead on where to find the rest. The question is, do you think we can raid a certain naval base by ourselves or should we interrupt the others' vacation?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I'm willing to give it a snipe."

"Shot. You mean shot."

"What's the difference?"

"Right. Call the others to give them a heads-up just in case, but then we're heading out."

~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about Migo: there are no copycats. You see, the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist. The greatest trick Migo ever pulled was to convince the world that they were just a single person. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you go back, you'll notice I never have Kuina use anyone's name but Zoro's when speaking out loud. I attempted to do something similar in the sections in her pov but that got rather silly as you might have noticed with Helmeppo, so I mostly abandoned it in favor of readability. On that note, no, Kuina does not actually know Helmeppo's name, hence the extremely creative nicknames.
> 
> Impisi is the Zulu word for hyena, which is what I styled his distinctive laugh after. And yes, he's the same Marine Captain from Coby's flashback.
> 
> Also, you guys have no idea how evil my grin was when you all proclaimed you knew who Migo was last chapter.


	4. In Which There Is A Talking Bush And A Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes:** This took way longer than I ever intended for multiple reasons, the biggest one being I am now working two jobs and finding the time in my schedule to write is a challenge. Then, when writing Usopp's scene, I caught 'can't-write-fanfic-itis'. I tried switching to Coby's pov because, while I never expected him to be a major pov character when I added him in, he's proven to be a very useful one to turn to anytime I get stuck. 
> 
> Of course, Coby then informed me that I forgot an entire island adventure - which actually solved a problem I'd had with something - that I then had to plot out and not all of it could be from his pov. So when I left his pov to try and figure out which character I needed to finish that adventure, the character that spoke up and demanded I write their scenes is one that doesn't show up in the story for ages. Sometimes I hate my muses. On the plus side, I do have several more future scenes written now.
> 
> Anyway, all of that is just a tl;dr way of saying sorry this is later than intended as well as an apology that I can't guarantee the next chapter won't be just as late. I am working on it, though! Many thanks to anyone still following this. And thanks once again to The Patient One for looking this over.
> 
>  **Warning:** Under-aged drinking and talks about slavery and grooming.

_**Chapter 4 - In Which There Is A Talking Bush And A Birthday** _

Mayor Poodle, much to Kuina's relief, insisted they take a fishing boat with an actual sail after he saw the dinky little rowboat they'd arrived in. Sure, it wasn't meant for long trips but it was better than their previous ride. Especially considering the Gecko Islands, while being closer than Conomi, weren't just over the horizon. In fact, it would be closer to a week.

It was going to be a week from hell. While it was bigger than the other boat, there still wasn't nearly enough room for the hyperactive rubber ball that was Captain Luffy. Zoro and Kuina herself were used to sparring to relieve tension but there wasn't nearly enough room for that, so they'd both turned towards letting their frustration out by barking at the kid (Coby, she needed to remember his name was Coby, especially since...) while training him. Except the more they snapped at him, the more the kid curled in on himself and the quieter and timider he got. Of course, that made Kuina feel guilty and she hated feeling guilty which just frustrated her more.

It didn't help that the kid tended to flinch and stay put instead of dodge like she was trying to train him to. Most beginners at dodge training didn't see the blows coming. Kuina was pretty damn certain Coby _did_ see the blows coming and just wasn't moving.

The whole revelation in Orange Town about him previously having been _owned_ by Alvida explained a lot, actually. Kuina had never met the woman - Alvida wouldn't still be running free if they had - but she'd heard enough and Kuina wasn't so innocent that she didn't know what 'grooming' was. And it was pretty fucking obvious some sadistic bastard had done their best to train Coby to take a hit and not fight back. This wouldn't be a problem if he was like Zoro, who could tank a hit, and not so... well, 'delicate' wasn't the right word but 'breakable' just made Kuina think of necks and stairs and _nope, not going there_.

So Kuina increasingly found herself taking her frustration out on her captain, who took it good-naturedly, especially if she used the excuse that she was keeping him from eating their entire food store. Which was actually the truth. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Kuina demanded as she caught her captain standing by the barrel they kept food in again. She'd caught him before he could plunder it based on the fact his cheeks weren't round with stolen food nor had he quickly gulped something down at the sight of her standing menacingly over him.

"Getting a snack?" Luffy suggested hopefully.

"No," Kuina stated forcefully, emphasizing it with her fist.

Luffy's only response was to whine, "Aw! But the meals are way too small!"

"You think I don't know that?! I'd like more for each meal too but there's only so much room on this tub for the four of us and the food and water we need. Honestly, we can't carry enough to last us a week so I've been rationing it - which goes out the window if you keep trying to steal snacks! Or do you want us to starve _again_."

"No," Luffy replied with a much more serious demeanor before suddenly grinning. "It's good you're looking out for us!"

Kuina blinked at him in surprise as he bounced off towards the small mast and started to climb it like a monkey yet again. For a moment there, she'd seen the king she knew he'd become in the bouncy kid he was. Huh. She turned to see if Zoro had witnessed it as well but her idiot was conked out and sleeping.

Coby, on the other hand, seemed to have seen everything which really wasn't that surprising considering how small the boat was.

"You're not going to complain about short-rations too, are you?" Kuina asked a bit bitterly only to regret it when the kid flinched and shook his head rapidly.

"No. No way. Nuh-uh."

"You can stop," she suggested only for her frown to turn into a scowl when Coby did stop with a flinch and a disturbing stillness.

Damn it. She knew she was frightening when she was irritated. She'd cultivated that aspect of herself on purpose, knowing she planned on eventually joining the crew of the Future Pirate King. She had a reputation for being scary.

But it meant she had no idea how to turn it off and stop being scary in front of a kid who she now suspected had to appease a dangerous woman whenever she was upset. Which frustrated and angered Kuina and made her even more terrifying to behold, which made things _worse_. She wanted to hack something with Wado Ichimonji until she felt better, preferably out of sight of the kid. At least until he stopped flinching every time she was in a bad mood.

Except there was no place to do such a thing in this tiny bucket. Kuina growled and Coby scuttled as far from her as he could get while staying on the boat and damn it all! She didn't want to scare him but she couldn't seem to stop doing it on accident. Thus she felt relief when their day suddenly changed.

"Hey! I see an island! Island~! Is~land!" Luffy started singing as he shaded his eyes with his hand (by pushing his hat back like an idiot) and peered at the dark spot on the horizon. Then he grabbed the rigging, sending the boat careening in its new direction at a speed that nearly sent her and Coby overboard. Zoro actually sat up, yawning as he did.

"L-Luffy! What are you doing?! That's not Gecko!" Coby shouted.

"So? It's an adventure!"

"I wouldn't mind stopping to restock. And it's not like we're in a rush," Kuina offered but Coby wasn't having it based on the way he started shaking his head.

"It's uncharted! What if there are pirates there? What-"

"Then I'll fight them!"

"-if there are wild animals?!"

"Then I'll eat them!"

"I'm pretty certain eating pirates would be cannibalism," Zoro pointed out with a grin only to lose it as Kuina punched the back of his head and yelled, "That's not what he said, you idiot!"

It was too late, though, because Coby started crying.

"Oh, no! What if there _are_ cannibals?! I don't want to be eaten!"

"You're not going to be eaten," Kuina insisted with a huff and roll of her eyes. "This idiot's just making shit up."

"Oi! You want a go?!" Zoro growled.

"Yes. Yes, I fucking do! You! Me! The moment we find a decent clearing on the island and the loser has to refill our food and water supply!"

"You're on!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Luffy only waited for the closest trees to be within his reach before he sling-shotted himself from the mast to... somewhere on the island. At least, Coby hoped Luffy landed somewhere on the island. If he'd overshot the island and drowned, Coby didn't know what he'd do. Zoro and Kuina at least helped beach the boat so it wouldn't float off, sniping at each other the entire time as they did.

"Um, Zoro? Kuina? What should I do while you... fight?"

"Shore leave, squirt. Do whatever you want," Zoro replied as he stalked after Kuina into the underbrush. Then they disappeared from sight, leaving Coby to wince when he heard the sound of metal clashing and frightened birds taking to the air in the near distance not long after.

And now he was alone. On an uncharted island. That could have anything on it. With nothing to do. That's when it really struck Coby that he had absolutely no clue what to do with himself.

Alvida had kept him locked up in the ship whenever she and her men had shore leave with the exception of the times he was pressed into service as a pack mule or when they actually let him out of sight on Alvida's island. But restocking was part of Zoro and Kuina's bet and he didn't want to upset them by doing it instead and there was no need for him to attempt to build a raft here. As for what he'd done before he'd been kidnapped, well, there were no newspapers here for him to try and glean any information about Migo from, he'd forgotten to barter for fishing equipment in Orange Town - something he'd have to remedy when they reached Syrup Village - and there were no elderly people for him to assist.

So... maybe... he should explore like Luffy? Actually, finding Luffy sounded like a really good idea. With that in mind, Coby turned in the direction he thought he'd seen Luffy disappear into when he went flying and set off into the trees.

The underbrush was thicker than he'd expected but Coby persevered and managed to squeeze through. The sounds of Zoro and Kuina fighting had nearly disappeared due to distance when he stumbled upon what looked like a beaten path or possibly a game trail. He made much better progress after that and found himself actually enjoying it. There were interesting bird calls and pretty flowers and the trees provided enough shade that he wasn't too hot while the sun was high enough that it wasn't too cold either.

"This... isn't so bad. Definitely a better birthday than my last one," he said to himself, mostly to hear some sort of human sound. He'd resigned himself to celebrating on their little boat with what little food he was given when he'd realized the date, and even that would've been better than Alvida celebrating his birthday by loaning him out to the sadistic Captain Impisi for a week of 'training', which is what had happened on his last birthday.

"If I tell the others, maybe we can have a party on the beach after we restock instead of leaving right away?" he mused.

"That doesn't sound bad."

"I know, right? I-" Coby froze. He didn't recognize that voice.

"I hope you weren't planning on restocking any meat, though," the rather rusty-sounding voice suggested in an ominous tone.

"Oh, n-no! O-of course not!" Coby stammered out nervously even as he tried to see where the speaker was. There was no one there. "I'll, uh, just be going now. Nicetomeetyou!"

Then he took off running down the game trail, praying for Luffy to be somewhere up ahead. He was making great time until he tripped over a root and landed face first in the muddy bank of the stream the game trail apparently led to. He sat up and tried to wipe the mud from his face so he could see if he'd been pursued but just made the mess worse. He couldn't hear anything other than birdsong and the babbling of the stream he was practically sitting in, however.

With a sigh of relief, he took off his glasses with the intent to wash them off only to yelp and flail and lose them when the same disembodied voice from before called out, "What's the rush, kid? Someone might think you're up to something."

"I'm sorry! Please don't eat me!" Coby begged, curling up and wishing he could see whoever was following him.

"Yeah, yeah. Jeeze, scaring you is like kicking a puppy. Tell you what, promise not to harm the animals on this island and I'll let you go your way. You can even have a party to celebrate your birthday on the beach before you go. Uh, happy birthday, by the way."

"Um, thank you? A-and I promise I won't hurt any animals and I'll tell my friends not to as well," Coby promised as he squinted in the direction he thought the voice had come from.

"Good. That's good. Um, I think your glasses landed somewhere to your left?"

"Thank you," Coby replied quietly before turning to his left. He hadn't been able to see the speaker even before the loss of his glasses had left everything a blurry, green mess in the distance. Hopefully he'd be able to see his glasses once he got close enough.

The strange voice went silent and Coby was starting to feel optimistic about a glint he could see nearby being his missing glasses when the click of a gun being cocked made him freeze.

"Well, hello there," an entirely new voice stated. "How about you do me a favor, kid, and tell me where the treasure is hidden."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Zoro's back slammed against the tree and the tip of a certain sword was under his chin before he could move, leaving him disarmed and defenseless.

"Shit," he hissed as his eyes darted to where his swords lay, none of them close enough to just grab.

"Do you yield?" Kuina demanded, still standing tall and steady for all that she was shorter than him; she was a goal he had yet to defeat. 

Zoro considered her words. Had this been a real fight against someone else, he would dodge to the side and aim for the closest sword on the ground, ignoring the wound his opponent would likely cut into his side. But this was a spar against Kuina and he knew he was likely going to have to refill the supplies after they were done no matter how long he dragged this fight on for. Better to do the chore while it was still light out and he wasn't bleeding all over the place.

"Tch. Fine. I yield."

Kuina pulled back with a grin and self-congratulatory crow of, "That makes eighteen thousand, two-hundred and fifty wins in a row to me! And eighteen thousand, two-hundred and fifty losses in a row for you. You need to work harder, Zoro. If you'd gone for one of your swords, you could have kept going."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro replied with a roll of his eyes as he gathered his swords. Like he didn't already know that.

"Come on, I'll help you with the supplies. I don't trust you to recognize edible plants or not get lost trying to find the boat."

"Screw you! I can find my way back just fine!" Zoro shot back but it was without the heat that had been slowly increasing after far too long in close quarters. Honestly, a good fight had been precisely what he'd needed to relax.

"Sure you can," Kuina drawled, teasing.

The crack of a gun going off in the distance made them both freeze even as the frightened shrieks of birds taking to the air made it clear which direction it had come from. Zoro took off running towards the birds, only for Kuina to grab him by the upper arm and drag him in a different direction with a shout of, "This way, you idiot!" 

The running came to a halt when they ended up splashing unexpectedly into a stream. Kuina stepped away, hand on the hilt of her sword, even as Zoro's attention was caught by something halfway in the water resting against a rock. Moving, he fished out what he'd seen.

"Zoro? There's blood over here. A lot of it. And it looks like something... someone was dragged into the bushes."

"Oi," Zoro stated with a grimace as he held up what he'd found. Kuina took in a sharp intake of breath as she turned and recognized Coby's glasses even as her eyes turned to steel.

"We need to find him. Come on. There's a trail over here."

They followed the trail with Kuina occasionally demanding they go in a new direction and acting like he was about to get lost or something without her. Then they found what had done the dragging.

The creature's body looked like a saggy bag covered in orange fur with oddly long limbs attached. Except no ape should have that many extra limbs. Or extra eyes.

"What the hell?" he muttered even as Kuina went wide-eyed and whispered something about ape-spiders. At the sound of their voices, the spiderweb covered mass the ape-creature had been cuddling and crooning at wiggled and let out something that sounded an awful lot like a frightened whimper.

"Kuina."

"I see it. Hold on! We'll get you free!" Kuina stated, unsheathing Wado Ichimonji and pointing it at the weird-ass ape. The spider ape thing shrieked at them, baring its teeth.

"Bring it," Kuina stated with a wild grin and then the fight was on.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hm," Luffy hummed thoughtfully as he stared at the lizard with striped fur in front of him. One could practically see the sweatdrop by said animal's head.

"I wonder," Luffy finally said, "if a crocodiger tastes like a crocodile or a tiger? Or maybe both? Hm." He closed his eyes to think and the striped lizard creature quickly shuffled away from him and out of sight. "Oh! I know! I'll just eat it and find out! Hey, where did it go? Come back so I can eat you!"

He started searching for the animal but the sound of a gun going off in the distance made him lose that train of thought when he realized none of his crew owned a gun. He'd stumbled a few steps in the direction he'd heard the shot, eyes wide and alarmed because he was the only one immune to bullets, when voices made him turn to the right.

"Hey, you think Dean found something to hunt?"

"Shut up, Diego."

"Hey, I'm just saying something made him shoot his pistol, that's all."

"Shut up! We're not alone!"

"Eh? Hey, there's a kid!"

Two men burst out of the underbrush, the shorter one aiming a gun at Luffy even as his face twisted with a suspicious glare, while the other one waved with a friendly grin.

"Hey, kid! What are you doing here?" the friendly one asked.

"That's what I want to know," the suspicious one muttered.

"Hey, no need to be a sourpuss, Danny."

"How many times have I told you to call me Daniel?" the suspicious one rage before shaking his gun in Luffy's direction. "And you haven't answered us, brat! What are you doing here?"

"We stopped to look for something to eat. Who are you?"

"Oh, hey, I'm Diego, this is Danny, and with our third, Dean, we're the D Brothers."

"Eh?!"

"Hey, yeah, I know, but it seems to strike fear into the higher ranking Marines. How about you, kid?" the friendly Diego said, having gotten close enough to sling an arm around Luffy's shoulder, "I don't suppose you know anything about the treasure our map says is on this island?"

"There's a treasure?" Luffy demanded, eyes sparkling. "Where?"

"Hey, that's what we're trying to figure out."

"Forget it, Diego, the kid don't know nothing. But if he gets any idea he can have our treasure..." Danny or Daniel or whatever he called himself waved his gun under Luffy's nose. "Actually, you said 'we', didn't you? Where are your buddies?"

Luffy made the I-don't-know noise as he shrugged.

"Hey, Danny?" Diego stated thoughtfully, his grip on Luffy's shoulders tightening. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking."

"I believe so. Hey, kid, how would you like to help us find our treasure?"

The look on the men's faces reminded Luffy of Ace's expression whenever he came up with a good idea. If he'd had a bigger vocabulary, he would've called the expression 'sly' and would've been wary because of the negative connotations of the word. But he didn't have a bigger vocabulary and equated the expression to one of his beloved big brothers, so he wasn't worried at all. Besides, treasure-hunting sounded like fun.

"Okay!"

"Hey, great! Just stick with us. This is going to be good."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I still can't believe you shot him," Coby stated as he followed after the man he still wasn't entirely convinced wasn't a talking bush in a planter box. It didn't help that, without his glasses, he couldn't consistently make out the details that gave away the lie that the man wasn't the shrubbery he strove to appear as. Gaimon, as the weird, rusty-voiced man had introduced himself as, huffed as he trudged along.

"What, you wanted me to let him shoot you?"

"No, no. I just... why?"

"Beats me. You're kind of annoying. But you did offer to help when I asked."

"Well, it's kind of the least I can do when you rescued me but you don't seem particularly concerned about that weird spider-ape thing that dragged him..." Coby trailed off with a shudder.

"Ah, the orangutarantula is harmless. In fact, she likes to play nursemaid and wrap living things up with her handmade silk bandages, so the lucky bastard will probably survive being shot."

"Right," Coby agreed disbelievingly and fell silent for a bit. After about a minute or so, he asked, "This thing you wanted my help with in exchange for saving my life, is it close?"

"Actually, yes. See the clearing up ahead? There's a rock formation there that I need you to climb up on top of and then tell me what you see."

"Um, okay," Coby agreed, even though he wasn't sure how much he'd be able to see without his glasses. Then he strode forward because, now that he knew where he was going, he could move faster than Gaimon's awkward but steady shuffle. Sure enough, there was a nearly sheer rock face taking up most of a fairly large clearing. Getting up wouldn't be easy at all but it would be doable. With that in mind, Coby started feeling for hand and foot grips and started climbing. About half-way up, he let out a soft huff of laughter as he realized that, out of all the things he could have done today, he'd ended up finding an older person to help out.

It wasn't until Coby reached the top that he realized why Gaimon hadn't been concerned by Coby's lack of distance vision.

"Well? What do you see?"

"There are chests up here!" he called back even as he stumbled to the first one and opened it up, only to suck in a shaky breath, shove it aside, and move to the next one.

"Yep. Found them when I first got here following a treasure map only to get stuck. And?" Gaimon called. Coby shook his head and moved to the next and the next until he had all five open. He was staring blankly at the bottom of the last one when Gaimon added in a softer tone, "They're all empty, aren't they?"

"I... yes. I'm sorry!" Coby said even as he moved to the edge and turned sad eyes down towards Gaimon. "You've spent all this time and there's nothing here."

"What are you sorry for? It's not your fault. That's the risk you run with treasure maps. And better I know now than later. Besides, I've found a better treasure in the animals on this island," Gaimon stated even as a giraffaroo hopped up to him before leaning it's long neck down to nibble at Gaimon's hair. 

"Hey! Stop that! Shoo!"

It did stop with an alarmed sound before hopping at speed into the underbrush. It wasn't until Gaimon called out, "Quick, hide!" that Coby realized that Gaimon wasn't what had scared it.

Dropping to the ground, Coby then crawled forward on his elbows until he could peek at where Gaimon had been. He couldn't see the man but Coby wasn't certain if that was because Gaimon had successfully hidden himself in the underbrush or because everything was just a green and brown blur that far away. He did, however, make out the colorful blurs of three new people entering the clearing and he stood up and shouted a greeting because the bouncy one was obviously Luffy. 

"Hey! Up here!"

"Coby!" Luffy greeted back cheerfully, waving both hands. "You found the treasure! That's great!"

Coby blinked, looked to the side where it looked like Luffy was pointing, and sweat-dropped when he realized that, when he'd shoved the first chest away, he'd accidentally shoved it close enough to the edge that it could be seen from below. Then he rubbed his head and admitted, "Uh, not exactly... wait. How did you know there's a treasure?"

Coby asked the last with narrowed eyes because he only knew about the treasure was because that one guy had nearly shot him over it. The resulting squint let him make out enough details to realize Luffy's companions, one taller than the other, weren't Zoro and Kuina like he'd originally assumed.

"These guys told me," Luffy stated simply, confirming Coby's suspicion.

"Hey, that's right! And if you get it down for us, we'll split it with you," the taller man called up.

"There's no treasure up here," Coby informed him, "And even if there were, it wouldn't belong to you. It would belong to the guardian of the island."

"'Guardian of the island'? What kind of rubbish are you going on about, kid?" the shorter man demanded gruffly even as Luffy went, "Really?"

"It's true!" Coby insisted. "There's a reason your buddy isn't here."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say as the two men froze before the taller one grabbed Luffy and put a gun to his head.

"Listen here, brat. You give us that treasure or your friend here's not going to have a brain."

Coby hesitated. He still couldn't see Gaimon and Luffy wasn't doing anything. Sure, the gun wouldn't hurt Luffy but why wasn't he doing something? It was like he was waiting for Coby to do something.

...huh. Well, Coby had managed to save Luffy from drowning the other day. Surely this couldn't be too much harder. It wasn't like Luffy was actually in danger this time. And there was a possibility the guys would leave once they realized there really wasn't any treasure. With that thought, Coby straightened his spine and walked so the chest was between him and the edge.

"Fine. You want it? You can have it," Coby snapped before kicking the chest over the edge. The shorter man squawked and ran to catch it only for the chest to land on top of him. The bottom, long rotted from years of sitting on the ground exposed to the elements, broke and the chest swallowed all but the man's legs. Said legs staggered until the man got himself back under control.

"What the hell?"

Coby knew the lid moving was likely the man trying to push his way out but damn if it didn't look like the chest just talked. Luffy doubled over laughing.

"Ahahaha! He's stuck in the box! Does this mean you're a boxer now?"

"Hey, Danny, how are you fitting in there with the treasure?"

"Diego, you idiot! There's no treasure in here. The kid must have dumped it before dropping the chest!"

"What? Hey! Give us our treasure!" Diego demanded, shaking a fist at Coby.

"I told you there isn't any!" Coby shot back.

"Fucking hell, Diego, just shoot the brats!" Danny demanded, the lid of the chest he was stuck in still flapping as if matching his words. "We can climb up there ourselves once they're out of the way."

"Right," Diego agreed, re-tightening his grip on Luffy only to be interrupted by a chase scene in progress.

"Get back here, you mangy ape!" Coby heard Kuina cry right before the orangutarantula burst into the clearing, paused to shriek angrily at her chasers, and threw a ball of webbing in the direction she had come from. This heralded Zoro's own dramatic entrance into the clearing as he leapt into view, a single sword swinging as he bisected the ball of webbing in two, causing both halves to splatter against the trees on either side of him. The orangutarantula shrieked again and moved to run only to pause and look in confusion at her empty hands.

"Ha! Got him!" Kuina announced, a person bound in webbing slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then she skipped back a step to avoid the orangutarantula's angry grab. 

Zoro quickly moved between them, two swords drawn and ready. The orangutarantula took a wary step back and then another until she was back at the tree line but her gaze kept flickering to the person on Kuina's shoulder. Kuina turned her back on the creature, trusting Zoro implicitly to keep the orangutarantula away, only to pause as she took in the tableau now in front of her.

"The hell? Captain, what's going on?"

"These guys took me hostage to make Coby give them a treasure but Coby said no and dropped a box on one of them and then you showed up," Luffy stated calmly.

"Eh?"

"Ahem," Coby cleared his throat before waving and calling, "Hi. Up here."

Kuina blinked up at him owlishly before saying, "If you're there, then who the hell is this?"

"Dean?" Diego half asked, half suggested. The person who'd pointed a gun at Coby earlier before his run in with Gaimon and the orangutarantula and who was now on Kuina's shoulder made an affirmative sound before letting out an oof noise as Kuina tossed him to the ground. She ripped the webbing from his face and stared at the man in consternation as he took a deep breath and started chanting, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Dean, get a hold of yourself," Danny commanded, who Coby was now beginning to suspect was moving the lid in time to his words on purpose.

Dean stopped his chant and took another deep breath before seeming to realize who, or rather, _what_ was kneeling over him, judging by the way his voice took on a smarmy note.

"Wow, I must have died and gone to heaven because I see an ang- mph!"

"Ew," Kuina stated matter-of-factly as she shoved the webbing she'd pulled off of his face into Dean's mouth, effectively gagging him. Then she looked up at the orangutarantula relentlessly pacing at the edge of the trees and said, "Sorry! We thought he was someone else. You can have him back."

"Mmph?!"

"Hey, wait!"

"Damn it, Diego! Shoot someone!"

"Hey, that's right! No one move or this kid gets it," Diego demanded, threatening Luffy with the pistol.

Zoro, who was in the process of sheathing his swords, snorted and stated, "Like that would do anything to him."

Diego blinked in surprise at him only to freeze as Kuina unsheathed her sword and laid the point on the other side of Dean's neck from where she was standing, making it clear she could behead him in one quick movement.

"How about we change things up. I'm pretty certain I recognize your faces from a bounty poster and we could use the money, the way our captain eats. So we'll be taking your heads and the treasure."

"There isn't any treasure," Coby repeated yet again. "And, as I told them earlier, even if there were, it would belong to the guardian of the island."

"Guardian of the island?" Zoro muttered. Coby saw his hands go to his swords when Gaimon, voice echoing oddly, called out, "That would be me," from wherever he was hiding.

"So cool!" Luffy enthused, nearly bouncing out of the grip Diego still had on him.

"Right. And if you don't want to upset the guardian, you three will leave right now!" Coby insisted.

"That's right! Leave!" Gaimon agreed, still not visible based on the confused looks everyone else was giving their surroundings.

"Eh? But what about you, Coby?" Luffy asked.

"He means us, you idiot," Danny replied. "Me, Dean, and Diego."

"Oh. Right."

"And you're crazy if you think we're leaving without the treasure!" Danny added.

"Hey, Danny, I don't know if you can see anything outside of that box or anything but the two people who showed up with Dean and the spider monkey-" The orangutarantula let out an angry screech. "-Ape! Ape! The people who showed up with the spider ape are the Demon and the Heathen."

There was a pause as the boxed man considered this.

"And the Heathen's about to behead Dean," Diego added. Dean nodded as much as he dared, crying where he was laying under Kuina's sword.

"Well, shit. I guess you'll just have to take them out first!"

Coby felt like smacking a hand against his face because Danny had started out sounding so reasonable up until the end of that sentence. He didn't dare look away from what was happening, however, even as he wondered what he should do. He wasn't exactly in a good position to do something, stuck on top of the rock formation the way he was.

That's when Luffy proved that, much as Coby had suspected, he could've gotten out of his precarious position at any time. The moment Diego moved the gun away from Luffy's head to aim at Kuina, Luffy's hand shot out and wrapped around Diego's wrist, painfully so based on the crack and the way the man yelped and dropped his gun.

"You can shoot me all you want. I'll just laugh. But you do not harm my nakama," Luffy stated in the voice that had inspired Coby to stand up to Alvida and follow this boy on a rickety boat to who knew where as they followed their dreams. Even as he stared at Luffy with a growing smile, he vaguely saw both Kuina and Zoro straighten a bit at those words. Huh. This was their first time hearing it, wasn't it?

"And you heard Coby. Any treasure here belongs to the guardian. So leave and don't come back. Or I might get _angry_."

"You can't seriously believe-"

"Hey, Danny, with all due respect, _shut up_ ," Diego stated as he backed away from Luffy with a wary look, holding his injured wrist. "We're not going to win this fight." 

The boxed man was silent for a long moment before making a noise of displeasure.

"Tch. Fine. We'll leave without the treasure." 

Coby did facepalm at this point because that man was obviously an idiot who didn't listen.

"There isn't any treasure! How many times do I have to say that?" Coby demanded in exasperation. "Someone took it decades ago."

Meanwhile, Kuina took her sword away from Dean's neck only to swing it lengthwise at his legs. He yelped and scrambled back when it nearly reached his crotch, which is when he and everyone else realized she'd just freed his legs.

"Well," she asked, "What are you waiting for? _Run._ "

"Yes, ma'am!" Dean squeaked even as he scrambled upright and headed for his brothers. "Go, go, go!"

Diego needed no further prompting and, between the two of them, they managed to herd Danny in a westerly direction.

"I'll make sure they take off," Gaimon offered, making Coby's friends jump and look for the source of the voice.

"Okay," Coby agreed before looking around for a safe place to get down.

"The hell is that?" Kuina wondered.

"Guardian of the island," Coby explained as he sat on the edge and then turned so he could try and find hand and foot grips.

"So there's really a guardian? Awesome!" Luffy cheered.

"That wasn't just you throwing your voice or something?" Zoro asked as he watched the orangutarantula trail after the D Brothers.

"Heh. Nah. I just got lucky and made a friend," Coby explained before letting out a yelp as his foot slipped and sent him tumbling off the rock face. Kuina caught him.

"You all right?" she asked. Coby flushed in embarrassment and nodded before he scrambled out of her hold. Then she reached into a pocket and pulled something out.

"Here. I think these are yours."

Coby blinked until the object glinted in a particularly familiar way.

"Ah! My glasses! Thank you!"

He then blinked again when Kuina's face was finally clear to him because he'd never seen such a soft smile on her face before. Then Luffy was right there taking up his attention.

"You're going to introduce us to this guardian, right? Right?" Luffy demanded eagerly.

"Hai, hai, as soon as he gets back," Coby agreed, feeling a bit dizzy as Luffy shook him only to drop to the ground when Luffy let him go to throw his hands up in the air with a whoop. When he looked at Kuina again, she and Zoro were having a conversation to the side. Huh. He wondered what they were talking about. Then Kuina put Zoro in a headlock, looking far too gleeful at having Zoro's face halfway pressed into the side of her... chest even as Zoro flailed. Ah. Yeah, he wasn't getting involved in whatever relationship those two had.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So _that's_ why Koshiro-sensei always failed to find someone who interested you. He wanted someone to run the dojo after you got married and you just wanted a guy who needs you to rescue him," Zoro suggested with a knowing expression.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kuina insisted primly right before she put Zoro in a headlock. "Come on, idiot. We still have supplies to fill."

"MEAT!" Luffy suddenly demanded, likely having heard the word 'supplies'.

"Wait! I promised the guardian we wouldn't hurt any of the animals on the island. I'm sorry, Luffy. We won't be able to get any meat here," Coby insisted.

"Aw!"

"B-but he did say we could have a party on the beach to- to celebrate... my... birthday."

"Really! Happy Birthday, Coby!" Luffy cheered.

"It's your birthday?! Congratulations! How old are you?" Kuina asked.

"S-sixteen."

The other three blinked before Zoro said, "You don't look that old."

Coby wilted.

"I know," he agreed. "I was kind of expecting the growth spurts to start right about the time Alvida kidnapped me nearly two years back but they haven't happened."

"Maybe you're a late bloomer," Kuina suggested. "It's been known to happen. There was this one tiny kid at the dojo who never seemed to grow for years and years and then, one day when he was nearly seventeen, he suddenly shot upwards overnight. He's pretty tall now."

"Really?"

"Really. You even know him," Kuina stated in a teasing tone as she looked at her best friend. Zoro huffed and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked away, a hint of red dusting his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

"Wait. _Zoro_ was _short_?" Luffy demanded.

"Yep! And you better believe I took advantage of being taller than him while it lasted."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised by that," Coby muttered. Kuina twitched and shot a glare at him, making Coby eep and try and hide behind Luffy. Luffy thought it was funny and kept trying to move from out between the two of them, grinning and chuckling as Coby moved with him.

"Okay, they're gone. They're going to be dealing with the orangutarantula, though. I couldn't convince her not to stowaway," the weird voice called, making Kuina jump.

"Would you stop that and show yourself?" Kuina demanded.

"He's right there," Coby stated, pointing.

Kuina blinked because that was a freaking bush in a planter box. Except... bushes didn't normally have faces. And on closer inspection, the planter box was actually a chest like the one that one weird guy had been stuck in.

"Hey! It's another boxer!" Luffy stated with a grin.

"Ha ha, very funny," the planter box bush replied in a deadpan before saying, "My name's Gaimon and I protect the animals that live on this island. And the treasure, although there apparently hasn't been any for at least twenty years. But I suspected as much, what with this." He slapped the side of his box at that.

"Ah! I'll get you out of that," Luffy said as he hopped nearly on top of the bush-man and started pulling.

"Stop that! I've been stuck in it for twenty years now! I've basically grown into it," Bush-man growled, flailing at Luffy to make him back off.

"Really? Huh. Oh, I know! You should join my crew!" Luffy said, pounding his fist down into his open hand.

Kuina tried not to twitch. She did not recall someone this short being on the future crew. Maybe he got free of the box and ended up being the really tall one? Kuina found herself doubting that, however. 

She honestly didn't know how many future crewmates they were supposed to have nor who they were. Hell, she couldn't even place Coby but at least he had the potential to grow taller and get a deeper voice as he aged. 

Immediately after meeting Zoro's future self, she and Zoro had been more focused on the fighting techniques they'd been shown or Future Zoro had mentioned, like those six Marine powers they needed to figure out their own versions of including names. By the time they realized they should probably figure out as much possible about their future nakama, they realized they couldn't even agree on how many people had been there. Kuina knew there were at least nine people. Zoro insisted there were more than that.

There was their Captain with his bouncy nature, scar beneath his eye, and tendency to get into people's faces. There'd been Future Zoro. There'd been the blond cook and the sniper who's impressively long nose couldn't really be hidden. At least two women based on the voices. Two burly men, one taller and more massive than the other. The really tall but skinny one that Kuina thought was a guy. That was nine and Kuina was willing to concede that she may have missed one or two, the way they kept moving and the cloaks had kept blending into their surroundings.

But she definitely didn't remember anyone as short as Bishy. Er, Bushy. Bushy was a much better nickname.

There was the problem that Kuina herself was proof that the crewmembers could change as she'd been too dead to join previously. At least Coby being here before she ever met their Captain meant she wasn't responsible for him joining or not. But who knew what could and would change simply because she was here now? Like gaining Bushy here as a crewmate.

Ah, hell, she was going to have to remember the guy's name now, wasn't she? What had he said it was? Gooeymount? No, that wasn't right. Gaypond? Guymight? For some reason the last one made her think of green and orange and someone with sparkling teeth yelling, 'YOUTH!' and she shivered and quickly decided if that was Bushy's name then he needed a different one.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure!" Luffy agreed as Bushy looked close to tears.

"Thank you! But... I have to decline. Who would look after the animals if I left? No, I'm going to stay."

"What about the one that you said stowed away?" Zoro asked. Bushy shrugged.

"She actually does that a lot. People come here for the treasure or to poach the animals, I scare them off with my spiel and any guns I managed to get off the last group to pass by, gather any dropped weapons while she follows whoever I wounded and nurses them back to health while acting as their proof it happened, then she comes back and someone follows her so I have to shoot someone else. It's never-ending, really."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone contemplated that. On second thought, she wasn’t sure her Captain was thinking about anything.

Then Bushy shuffled his feet and says, "If you're going to have that party, could I join you even if I'm not joining the crew? It's been awhile since I've been to a party."

"Shishishi! Sure! Come on, guys! We need to get everything together for a party! And we need to make sure there's plenty of meat."

Kuina managed to smack Luffy upside the head at the same time Zoro did as she, Zoro, Coby, and Bushy all yelled, "NO MEAT!"

"Aw." Her captain was seriously more upset by their dietary restriction than the blunt damage they'd tried to force upon him. Unbelievable. But he bounced back quickly enough.

"All right, then food! What is there to eat here?"

"Come on. I'll show you."

They spent the remainder of the day getting the party together. Driftwood from the beach and deadwood culled from the forest, all of it collected and dried by Bushy sometime before today, was piled carefully to form a bonfire. Fruits and edible mushrooms were collected as were fish, which apparently didn't count as part of the 'no meat' rule. It also went quite a ways towards explaining how Bushy kept the carnivorous animals from eating the herbivores.

Catching the fish involved Bushy handing out sharpened sticks to use as spears as they stood waist-deep in the water of a small, fish-rich inlet. Kuina promptly got into a competition with Zoro over who could catch the most which resulted in them sabotaging each other until their captain declared their fighting looked like fun and jumped into the water, forcing her and Zoro to abandon their competition in order to save the idiot. The end result was Kuina with one more fish than Zoro and both of them soundly beaten by not only Bushy but Coby who'd ended up with the most.

Then Bushy had decided it wouldn't be a proper party unless they brought his still to the beach. Zoro had quickly agreed.

The glitter of the stars was visible past the glow of the bonfire they'd finally lit on the beach and Kuina was feeling nicely buzzed from whatever it was Bushy had managed to make out of the island's fruit in his still. Zoro was making some serious headway into the contents of the still, Luffy was dancing around with Bushy and the weird animals that had joined them for the party - Kuina could see a snake-rabbit, a lion-pig, and what Luffy insisted on calling a crocodiger without even turning her head - and Coby was... Where was Coby? 

Kuina stood up, stretching as she did, and surreptitiously looked around until she spotted the boy sitting on a piece of driftwood that had been declared too wet earlier that day a ways down the beach, face turned towards the sky. She decided to wander over, but not without first filling two of the coconut shells they were using as cups at the still Zoro was steadily draining. She shoved one at Coby when she arrived, making him yelp and fumble with it as she laughed and sat beside him, nudging him with her elbow.

"You should have some. It's pretty good but alcohol never lasts long around Zoro. Bastard doesn't even have the audacity to get properly drunk, either. What're you doing over here by yourself, anyway?"

"I, uh..." Coby stopped talking and took a drink, likely to stall, only to cough and sputter at the bite of the alcohol, much to Kuina's glee.

"Lightweight, are we?" she asked even as she wondered what kind of drunk the kid would be. Probably not an angry one, what with his personality, but sometimes the quiet ones could surprise you.

"N-no, I'm not!" Coby retorted before forcing himself to take another swig. He didn't cough but he was obviously turning red from the effort not to.

"Hey, hey, sip it slowly. This is the kind of stuff that goes straight to your head and it's the only drink you're going to get the way Zoro's downing the stuff."

"So Zoro's going to be weird in the head?" Coby asked. Kuina snorted.

"There's nothing there in his head to begin with and I can't imagine him being weirder than he already is. Which might explain why I can never get him drunk. And you're avoiding my question. What are you doing over here by yourself?"

"I, uh... I was having a lot of fun. More than I've ever had before. And I found myself thinking that I didn't ever want it to end only to realize it was going to have to."

"Parties do tend to end," Kuina agreed carefully before sipping her own drink because that was what she was getting from his words but she had a feeling that wasn't what he meant. She wasn't surprised at all when Coby shook his head.

"No, I don't mean the party. Well, not just the party. It's more the realization that I won't be sharing another birthday with you guys."

"Why not?"

"Why not?! My dream involves finding and joining an entirely different group of people. At least I think Migo's a group of people. They might be just one but they'd be far too busy if that's the case. Besides, I don't know why you'd want me to stick around anyway. I'm a pathetic weakling who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper sack. Ow!"

"You could have dodged that. I know you could," Kuina stated bluntly as she pulled her fist back from where she'd punched Coby's shoulder. "And you need to stop putting yourself down. Especially since you're one of the strongest people I've ever met."

Coby choked and sputtered and Kuina had to rescue his drink as he flailed.

"How could you even begin to believe that?" he demanded.

"It's all in the names, really. They named me the Heathen and Zoro the Demon and they named us that so people who have never even met us will consider us to be monsters. But at least monsters are living beings capable of making their own decisions. What they call you - Alvida's Compass - is an object owned by a person who isn't you. By calling you that, they're calling you less than human. An object anyone can own.

"But you're not an object. You're you. You laugh and smile and cry and shout. And for all the signs that someone tried to break you - spent the last two years trying to break you - they didn't succeed. And that right there is why you're strong. I don't know many people who could survive two years being beaten and enslaved and not break. I know I couldn't. I barely managed nine days as a prisoner before I gave in and agreed to date that utter pinhole back at Shells. I can't imagine surviving two years."

"I wasn't..." Coby started only to stop, an odd look forming.

"Wasn't what?" Kuina nudged. Coby curled up, arms wrapped around his knees, but he answered her.

"I was going to say I wasn't constantly bound like you were but I... I guess that's not really true. I remember shackles and locked doors and barred windows. And whenever I was allowed away from that, there was always someone with quick eyes and heavy hands right there watching me. The only exception was a place I could never run from, which means it was just a bigger prison than the one they kept me in when I wasn't being useful."

Coby's breath hitched at that point and he roughly shoved his glasses up to his forehead as he angrily rubbed at his eyes. He hissed, "Damn it," when it became obvious it wouldn't be a quick fix.

"My mother died when I was young," Kuina began and Coby shot her a wet and startled look. "But one of the things I remember the best was her telling me it was okay to cry. That we cry because we feel something so much - anger, sadness, joy, laughter - that it just has to spill out of us. So... so go ahead. Cry. If you're crying because it's a good emotion, then it's a good emotion being shared. And if you're crying because of a bad emotion then, well, it's better outside than in where it can fester."

It was quiet for a bit aside from the hitches in Coby's breath and Kuina's own nervous shifting. She really wasn't good at the whole comforting thing. She was used to snapping at stupid boys to quit being babies or taunting Zoro who never cried and gave back as good as he got and not, you know, this. But she didn't want to snap at Coby. She instinctively knew that snapping at him wouldn't do any good and may actually make things worse. He wasn't some prideful teenager who'd had his ego stomped on and needed to get over it. He was a kid who'd been through something awful and had every right to be upset by it.

Eventually he stopped and rubbed his eyes and nose against his sleeve for lack of anything better. Kuina grimaced and made a mental note not to touch that sleeve until Coby washed it. And he'd better wash it. Kuina wasn't doing anyone's laundry but her own and even then she was going to see if she couldn't trick Zoro into doing it for her.

"I'm surprised you let me cry," Coby admitted, sniffling a little, "what with how you're always trying to toughen me up."

Kuina sighed as she shifted beside Coby.

"Do you know why I'm tough on you?" she asked.

Coby looked down at his feet, digging a toe into the dirt as he shrugged and shook his head. 

"I'm hard on you because, when it comes to fighting, you're like me."

"Huh?" Coby sounded incredulous.

"Zoro outweighs me and he's been physically stronger for years. But I'm the one who always wins our spars. Do you know why?"

Coby shook his head, staring at Kuina with wide eyes.

"Because I know how to use my strengths to my advantage. Even though I make sure I'm no slouch in that department, I'll never be as physically strong as Zoro. But I'm faster, more flexible, have more finesse and, honestly, I'm smarter too. And I use those.

"You? You'll never be as strong as Zoro either, much less our monster of a captain. That doesn't mean the strength training is useless - some strength's better than none - but right now, when it comes down to an actual fight, your best chance at surviving is going to be your ability to dodge.

"The thing about dodging, though, is you've got to be ready to do it at any time or it's useless. All it takes is letting your guard down once... and you are nowhere near ready to tank a hit. Maybe in the future, you will be, but right now I'm making sure you survive long enough to actually see that day."

"O-oh," Coby replied, looking absolutely floored. Kuina just grinned and gave his shoulder a playful shove.

"Come on. There's still a party going on."

He followed her back to the others, who cheered when they saw them. Coby was dragged into a dance with Luffy and if Coby's smile was a bit brittle at first, no mentioned it and it grew stronger as the night wore on. After all, who could truly be sad at a party thrown by the Future Pirate King?

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru. Ka-cha! Hey, Boss? It's us."

"Ah. The D Brothers. Done with your little treasure hunt?" the man who answered the transponder snail asked calmly as he sat down and set one ankle on top of his other knee. Tch. His shoe was scuffed. He'd need to take care of that soon. 

"Uh, sort of?" was the answer until the expression and voice coming from the snail suddenly changed to something rather... odd.

"We're done, all right, but we didn't get any treasure. Got beaten to it by these bastards that claimed there wasn't any."

"Hey, Danny, what did we say about using the den den mushi while stuck in the box?"

"Not to," was the sullen answer.

"It sounds like you have a story," their boss observed.

"Yeah. Well, those guys Daniel was talking about were the Demon and the Heathen."

Their boss's expression hardened as he demanded, "You're sure."

"Yeah, we're sure. Thing was, they weren't alone. They were calling this black-haired kid captain and seemed to think he was bullet-proof or something. Kid broke Diego's wrist like it was nothing. Then there was this scrawny pink-haired kid who's responsible for... I'm not really even sure how he did it, but he basically took me and Daniel out. Sicced a damn ape on me - who we have yet to get rid of - and we still haven't gotten Daniel out of that damn box. Shit, what did they call him? Something with a C. Coby? Yeah, I think that was it."

"Interesting. Anything else to add?"

"No, sir. I think that's it."

"EEEK!"

"Oh, uh, my nurse wants me to hurry up and finish the call so I can rest after being shot."

One of the first rules of leadership was being unflappable in the face of utter inanity, so he very carefully didn't react to that.

"Yes, yes, that's fine. Get some rest and do try and get your brother out of that... box. I'll call you with further instructions later."

"Yes, sir!"

Their boss hung up at that point and tapped his fingertips together thoughtfully. He'd been informed by Impisi himself about how he'd rescued Alvida and the woman was apparently still complaining about a black-haired young man stealing her cabin boy, although it was possible he needed to reevaluate how dangerous said cabin boy was, not mention exactly how much Alvida was hiding, if said cabin boy was capable of taking out two out of three of the D Brothers. The woman was far too cunning for her own good.

But now he finds out the two young men now had the two most notorious bounty hunters in the East Blue in tow, not least because the Demon and the Heathen had escaped every assassination attempt he'd arranged for them. He'd thought for certain he'd managed to impress upon Morgan the importance that they not survive arriving in Shells Town.

With that thought, he picked up the transponder snail to call the man.

"This is Warrant Officer Karasu calling for Captain Morgan on behalf of Captain Nezumi about some reported pirate sightings heading in his direction," he stated calmly.

"Good evening, Warrant Officer Karasu! This is Shell Town Communications Officer Tai. I take it you haven't heard the news, then?"

"News?"

"Captain Morgan was arrested a few days ago for abuse of power," Tai stated with the relish of a true gossip before lowering voice and adding, "Although, between you and me? He never would've gotten caught if it weren't for the weird pirate kid in the straw hat. The Commander was so relieved the kid took Morgan out that he let the kid wander away with the Demon and Heathen!"

"Oh? How interesting," Karasu stated before getting to 'official' business. He kept up a pleasant expression throughout the exchange but it morphed into a scowl the moment he hung up.

Orange Town was between Shells Town and where the D Brothers had been heading and the Bug Pirates were very late reporting in yet couldn't be raised by transponder snail at all. He now suspected he knew the cause. He'd have to see what strings he could pull before this newly formed crew disrupted any more of his delicate plans.

Speaking of plans... a few quickly placed calls and Karasu sat back with the confirmation that ex-Captain Morgan would soon be free. And just in time as Vice Admiral Garp had apparently been called in to deal with the transfer.

"Warrant Officer Karasu?" a voice called after a knock sounded on the door. "Captain Nezumi wants to see you."

Ah. Karasu stood and brushed some imaginary lint from his jacket before heading outside. He found Captain Nezumi on deck, frowning at the small merchant vessel in the distance.

"You wished to see me?" Karasu inquired, very purposefully not adding 'sir'. 

Nezumi startled with a squeak, cast Karasu a wary look, before turning back toward the distant ship.

"Are you certain this plan will work?" Nezumi demanded.

"Now, now. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Karasu asked as he reached up and adjusted his glasses in an odd manner where he used the palm of his hand and kept his fingers carefully curved away from him. 

"No," Nezumi sullenly admitted even as he shivered at the gesture, a rat reminded he was in the presence of a cat.

"That's right. And if we want to bring the Conomi Islands to heel, then we have to start by capturing her," Karasu insisted, gesturing at the boat that was now close enough just to make out the word 'Mikan' printed on the sail.

"Right. Men! Get ready to board and arrest everyone on that ship!"

"Hai!"

Karasu took a step back so he'd be out of the way of the more eager men as they attacked the ship even as he contemplated plan after plan. This one was well under way. And once they had the weather witch out of the way, Conomi would be easy enough to break. And without their trading partner... well, the Gecko Islands had put increasing amounts of land towards medicinal herbs, trusting the Conomi Islands to help out with any food they needed. Without that supply line, they wouldn't last long in a siege.

Once everything was said and done and they'd milked these islands for everything they were worth, he'd set into motion his plan where his carefully chosen scapegoats would take the fall and then he'd finally retire, rich and respected and living in the mansion he'd desired the moment he'd set his eyes upon it. It would take longer than it would have with his original plan, but not by too much, and had the advantage of taking care of a few loose ends. He was looking forward to it.

That was assuming this nasty little monkey wrench of a pirate crew he'd just found out about didn't ruin things. Nothing they'd done so far threw anything so far out of whack that he couldn't plan around it but he didn't like that their current path suggested they were heading for Syrup Village. The question was, what to do about it?

Oh, wait. That one had been complaining about not enough action lately. He would do wonderfully. Plan settling into place in his mind, the man now known as Karasu allowed a dark smile to form even as he watched the Marines drag the red-headed woman from the ship down into the hold. 

Perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes:** I'm placing Coby age as fifteen-almost-sixteen at the time he was rescued and this is why. Luffy set sail on his seventeenth birthday, which would put the very beginning of his trip on May 5th. Luffy's ship definitely isn't carrying enough supplies for Luffy to last beyond a day or so. Three at most if he was wise about it (and we all know that's not likely). As such, he likely encounters Alvida and Coby either late on the 5th or early on the 6th, the 7th at the latest. Again, the boat the two boys end up in can't possibly be carrying enough supplies to last Luffy for long - although Coby's there to help restrain him a bit - so they have to make it to Shells Town sometime between the 6th and the 9th depending on when exactly Luffy and Coby met. Zoro's words about surviving for the whole month and being tied up for 9 days does, however, makes the 9th a very real possibility. Even given time to fight, rest and recover (which can't take more than a day as we see Zoro responding to his first meal in days), that still means that in canon they leave Coby on the island well before his birthday on May 13th, even if Luffy and Zoro leave as late as the 9th.
> 
> Now, cabin boys tended to be between 14 and 16 and Coby was canonically with Alvida for two years (suggesting he was either nearly or had just turned 14 when he was ganglaid). Second, he has a major growth spurt not long after joining the Marines. 16 is a late but still normal age to have a major growth spurt, especially if one factors in malnutrition while he was a captive versus people like Garp making sure he ate right once he started training. This age would also explain why Coby starts out looking much younger than Luffy and then looking about the same age once the growth spurt starts. And, considering Luffy doesn't look like he aged much at all (and thus still looks like a teenager) after the time skip, it would make sense for a then 18-year-old Coby to look older than Luffy. 
> 
> This would also fit in with the 'youngest Captain in Marine history' as Coby would've been promoted somewhere between the ages of 16 and 18. Even taking the anime-only Grount into account that would still work as long as you assume that once you reach Captain it's harder to continue a meteoric rise as the only promotions we've seen/heard of for Captain and above either require an incredibly impressive feat (or being praised for one that the Marines don't dare attribute to the pirates actually responsible) or the death or retirement of the previous title holder in the case of Admirals and higher.
> 
> Also, the optician in me debated on what, exactly, is going on with Coby's eyes that he goes from wearing his glasses constantly to wearing them on his head. I narrowed it down to three possibilities and then chose the most likely: 
> 
> My Coby has mild myopia so he sees up close perfectly fine but has problems the further away something is. He should be wearing the glasses all the time but started pushing them up out of the way because being hit in the face while wearing glasses hurts (I personally have a severe prescription and have to wear glasses all the time but there have been activities where I've taken them off because, unless you have a pair designed to take a beating like sports goggles, then there are times where it's safer to have them off than on, even if you can't see a darn thing). 
> 
> This would also help explain why his Observation Haki seems based on sound while Usopp (who has amazing sight) seems to have his based on sight. It would make sense if he'd been using sound to make up for what he couldn't see and his Haki ended up being an extension of that. There's also the possibility that Marine tech could include contact lenses (likely hard ones if that's the case) and he could get around with wearing his glasses on his head as backup in case he lost a contact lens.


End file.
